Temporal Changes in the Fishes of Waller Creek and Invasion of the Variable Platyfish

This poster was presented at the second Waller Creek Symposium held on the University of Texas campus at the Recreational Sports Center on May 7, 2018.Waller Creek is an entirely urban creek flowing 11km through Austin, Travis County, Texas into Ladybird Lake. We gather the historic fish data, all held in our own Fishes of Texas Project database (Hendrickson and Cohen, 2018), for the creek and attempt to describe temporal change in the fauna of the creek. Minimal samples exist from the 1940’s and ’50s, but its fish fauna is rigorously sampled in the 1970’s when Edwards (1976) first formally surveyed the creek. It was uncollected in the 1980s. The Hendrickson lab, working with the public, local schools and universities, began sampling the creek in the 1990’s and continues to do so. These two sources (Edwards and Hendrickson Lab) are the main generators of data and we compared pre- and post-1980s data largely generated by these two sources. The fish fauna remains dominated by the same seven species Edwards collected in the 1970s (Gambusia affinis, Campostoma anomalum, Astyanax mexicanus, Lepomis megalotis, Lepomis cyanellus, Cyprinella lutrensis, and Herichthys cyanoguttatus), with the exception of an invasive species (Xiphophorus variatus), first detected in 2004, that is now the dominant species in the creek. Two of these seven species are firmly established non-natives (Astyanax mexicanus and Herichthys cyanoguttatus). Most of the less common native species collected in the 1970’s are no longer present (Ameiurus melas, Dionda flavipinnis, Fundulus zebrinus, Lepomis humilis, Lepomis macrochirus) or rare (Cyprinella venusta, Micropterus salmoides, Pimephales promelas) based on the data.Integrative BiologyWaller Creek Working Grou

Multi-centred governance and circuits of power in liberal modes of security

Multi-centred governance is epitomised in current struggles to better ‘secure’ liberal democracies as nation state actors are obliged to act ‘in partnership’ with corporate and non-governmental organisations whilst confronting illicit actors with enhanced digital capacities to circumvent and organisationally outflank both state and corporate powers. Examples of such social technologies, particularly Disruptive Digital Technologies (DDTs), include the use of social media communications for challenging elite constructions of social problems, networked distributed manufacturing technologies for the ‘weaponisation’ of civil society and the use of unmanned airborne vehicles (UAV’s) or ‘drones’ for surveillance and counter-surveillance. The paper draws upon research into transnational organised crime and urban security in Europe to illustrate the circuits of power that constitute liberal modes of security through causal relations of power-dependence, dispositions that fix or re-fix the meaning and membership categories of security and technologies of production and discipline that can facilitate the disruption or reproduction of these causes and dispositions

Assessment of the neuroprotective efficacy of poly-arginine-18 (R18) peptides in a pre-clinical model of perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE)

Hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in infants, globally. This disorder eventuates following a reduction in oxygenated cerebral blood flow to the foetus in utero, leading to excitotoxic-mediated brain cell (e.g. neuron, glia and glial progenitor cell) death. Currently, there is no clinically appropriate neuroprotective treatment to reduce acute brain injury following HIE. Recent studies have demonstrated that poly-arginine and cationic arginine-rich peptides (CARPs; e.g. R18: R = arginine residues) exhibit potent neuroprotective properties in both in vitro and adult animal models of ischaemia, and therefore have the potential to be developed into a neuroprotective treatment to reduce brain injury following HIE. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to assess the neuroprotective efficacy of CARPs in a model of perinatal HIE in the rat. To elucidate the neuroprotective efficacy of CARPs, a novel surgical modification to the original in vivo Rice-Vannucci model of perinatal HIE was developed. Using 7- day old Sprague-Dawley rats, brain injury was induced following the permanent ligation of the common and external carotid arteries, followed by a period of transient hypoxia (8% O2/92% N2). Results from this experiment demonstrated that the occlusion of common and external carotid arteries reduced cerebral communicational and/or anastomotic blood flow, reducing variability and improving the reliability in the presence of a cerebral infarct. The demonstration and termination of cerebral communicational and/or anastomotic blood flow improved the pre-clinical assessment of neuroprotective therapies to treat HIE. The CARPs, R18, R18D (D-enantiomer) and JNKI-1-TATD, were assessed in the modified Rice-Vannucci model of HIE when administered intraperitoneally, immediately after the cessation of hypoxia-ischaemia (HI; 8% O2/92% N2 for 2.5 h). Treatment with R18 and R18D significantly reduced infarct volume and improved behavioural assessments in this model. Surprisingly, the well-characterised neuroprotective peptide JNKI-1-1TATD, used as a positive control and benchmark, did not exhibit any significant neuroprotection. Succeeding positive results obtained following R18D administration immediately after HI, its therapeutic window was further assessed. R18D significantly decreased infarct volume and improved behavioural assessments when administered intraperitoneally up to 1 hour after the cessation of HI; correlating to 3.5 hours since HI onset. To confirm the neuroprotective mechanism of action of CARPs in HIE, an established in vitro primary cortical neuronal excitotoxic injury model was used. Results from this experiment demonstrate that CARPs reduce excitotoxic intracellular calcium influx in a dose-dependent fashion, providing evidence for a role in the reduction of several calcium-dependent pro-cell death cascades. The demonstration of significant neuroprotection following R18 peptide administration provides evidence for a novel therapeutic, which has the potential to reduce brain injury in infants who suffer HIE. In summary, this thesis has identified a novel surgical modification to improve the reliability and reproducibility of the original Rice-Vannucci model of HIE. In addition, the administration of the R18 and R18D peptides following perinatal HIE, significantly reduces brain injury and improves behavioural assessments when administered up to 3.5 hours after the onset of HI. These findings demonstrate that CARPs provide an exciting and novel approach to reduce brain injury following HIE

Resourceful leadership: how directors of children’s services improve outcomes for children, full report

Leading for Outcomes is a unique study into senior leadership in children’s services in England, drawing on in-depth primary research with leaders in eight local authorities, and 22 directors of children’s services. The eight local authorities were selected on a range of factors but primarily to represent existing high performers or rapidly improving authorities in terms of outcomes. The research was commissioned by the National College in partnership with C4EO, and completed by a team comprising Deloitte, Navigate and the University of Oxford. The study was completed during 2010. The key concept the Leading for Outcomes research has uncovered is that of the resourceful leader1. This report sets out a definition of resourcefulness and the eight core behaviours of resourceful leaders. It then discusses resourcefulness within three specific contexts that emerged as part of the research: leading change, leading in a time of shock, and managing the corporate and political landscape