Floristic variation in Sphagnum-dominated peatland communities of the Central Highlands, Victoria

The floristic composition of Sphagnum-dominated peatlands in the Central Highlands region of Victoria was surveyed (37º 25´ S; 145º 50´ E). NMDS ordination and cluster analysis divided the peatland sites into two broad groups with altitude being the most important factor separating these groups. Other important factors were aspect, slope and the amount of shade. Group 1 included subalpine sites that are similar to those found at higher altitudes further east in Victoria. Important species included Empodisma minus, Epacris paludosa, Richea continentis and Baeckea gunniana. The two species of Sphagnum present were Sphagnum cristatum and the more inundation-tolerant Sphagnum novozelandicum. Group 2 included montane peatlands with abundant Sphagnum cristatum. These sites range from broad wet heaths dominated by Richea victoriana and Carex appressa, to narrower cool temperate rainforest and riparian systems. The ‘rainforest’ peatlands are characterised by Leptospermum grandifolium, Nothofagus cunninghamii, Carex appressa and Blechnum penna-marina, and are in varying stages of post-fire succession regulated by sitespecific microclimate. The conservation status and catchment function of these peatlands are briefly discussed

The ISIS Twitter census: defining and describing the population of ISIS supporters on Twitter

Presents a demographic snapshot of ISIS supporters on Twitter by analysing a sample of 20,000 ISIS-supporting Twitter accounts, mapping the locations, preferred languages, and the number and type of followers of these accounts. Overview Although much ink has been spilled on ISIS’s activity on Twitter, very basic questions about the group’s social media strategy remain unanswered. In a new analysis paper, J.M. Berger and Jonathon Morgan answer fundamental questions about how many Twitter users support ISIS, who and where they are, and how they participate in its highly organized online activities. Previous analyses of ISIS’s Twitter reach have relied on limited segments of the overall ISIS social network. The small, cellular nature of that network—and the focus on particular subsets within the network such as foreign fighters—may create misleading conclusions. This information vacuum extends to discussions of how the West should respond to the group’s online campaigns. Berger and Morgan present a demographic snapshot of ISIS supporters on Twitter by analyzing a sample of 20,000 ISIS-supporting Twitter accounts. Using a sophisticated and innovative methodology, the authors map the locations, preferred languages, and the number and type of followers of these accounts. Among the key findings: From September through December 2014, the authors estimate that at least 46,000 Twitter accounts were used by ISIS supporters, although not all of them were active at the same time.  Typical ISIS supporters were located within the organization’s territories in Syria and Iraq, as well as in regions contested by ISIS. Hundreds of ISIS-supporting accounts sent tweets with location metadata embedded.  Almost one in five ISIS supporters selected English as their primary language when using Twitter. Three quarters selected Arabic. ISIS-supporting accounts had an average of about 1,000 followers each, considerably higher than an ordinary Twitter user. ISIS-supporting accounts were also considerably more active than non-supporting users. A minimum of 1,000 ISIS-supporting accounts were suspended by Twitter between September and December 2014. Accounts that tweeted most often and had the most followers were most likely to be suspended. Much of ISIS’s social media success can be attributed to a relatively small group of hyperactive users, numbering between 500 and 2,000 accounts, which tweet in concentrated bursts of high volume. Based on their key findings, the authors recommend social media companies and the U.S government work together to devise appropriate responses to extremism on social media. Approaches to the problem of extremist use of social media, Berger and Morgan contend, are most likely to succeed when they are mainstreamed into wider dialogues among the broad range of community, private, and public stakeholders

An economic evaluation of the osmoregulation gene technology to the Australian wheat industry

Episodes of rainfall irregularity and soil moisture deficit have focused attention on the widespread limitation of water supply on winter cereal crop production in Australia. This has motivated a number of efforts at breeding for improved drought tolerance. A recent example involves a cellular adaptation which mitigates water loss through solute accumulation (osmoregulation or osmotic adjustment). An assessment of the performance of osmoregulation yield response in the presence of climate change found that wheat cultivars with this gene are unlikely to be adversely affected by hotter and drier conditions across the wheat belt. The results of an economic evaluation of potential future innovations (wheat cultivars) from the osmoregulation gene technology are that for Australia the net present value could range from $388 million to$3.6 billion, depending on the adoption of wheat cultivars with the gene. Associated benefit-cost ratios ranged from 43:1 to 390:1, and internal rates of return were 16% to 27%. Even under pessimistic assumptions the returns are quite healthy. For NSW-only adoption, internal rates of return ranged from 10% to 22%. This osmoregulation technology has the potential for inclusion in wheat cultivars bred for other purposes, and for other crops. As such it has implications for agricultural plant breeders and farmers both in Australia and overseas, and there are substantial potential spillover benefits.economic evaluation, wheat breeding, osmoregulation, Crop Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Wonder, Horror, Mystery

Wonder, Horror, Mystery is a dialogue between two friends, both notable arts critics, that takes the form of a series of letters about movies and religion. One of the friends, J.M. Tyree, is a film critic, creative writer, and agnostic, while the other, Morgan Meis, is a philosophy PhD, art critic, and practicing Catholic. The question of cinema is raised here in a spirit of friendly friction that binds the personal with the critical and the spiritual. What is film? What’s it for? What does it do? Why do we so intensely love or hate films that dare to broach the subjects of the divine and the diabolical? These questions stimulate further thoughts about life, meaning, philosophy, absurdity, friendship, tragedy, humor, death, and God. The letters focus on three filmmakers who challenged secular assumptions in the late 20th century and early 21st century through various modes of cinematic re-enchantment: Terrence Malick, Lars von Trier, and Krzysztof Kieślowski. The book works backwards in time, giving intensive analysis to Malick’s To The Wonder (2012), Von Trier’s Antichrist (2009), and Kieślowski’s Dekalog (1988), respectively, in each of the book’s three sections. Meis and Tyree discuss the filmmakers and films as well as related ideas about philosophy, theology, and film theory in an accessible but illuminating way. The discussion ranges from the shamelessly intellectual to the embarrassingly personal. Spoiler alert: No conclusions are reached either about God or the movies. Nonetheless, it is a fun ride

Wonder, Horror, Mystery

Wonder, Horror, Mystery is a dialogue between two friends, both notable arts critics, that takes the form of a series of letters about movies and religion. One of the friends, J.M. Tyree, is a film critic, creative writer, and agnostic, while the other, Morgan Meis, is a philosophy PhD, art critic, and practicing Catholic. The question of cinema is raised here in a spirit of friendly friction that binds the personal with the critical and the spiritual. What is film? What’s it for? What does it do? Why do we so intensely love or hate films that dare to broach the subjects of the divine and the diabolical? These questions stimulate further thoughts about life, meaning, philosophy, absurdity, friendship, tragedy, humor, death, and God. The letters focus on three filmmakers who challenged secular assumptions in the late 20th century and early 21st century through various modes of cinematic re-enchantment: Terrence Malick, Lars von Trier, and Krzysztof Kieślowski. The book works backwards in time, giving intensive analysis to Malick’s To The Wonder (2012), Von Trier’s Antichrist (2009), and Kieślowski’s Dekalog (1988), respectively, in each of the book’s three sections. Meis and Tyree discuss the filmmakers and films as well as related ideas about philosophy, theology, and film theory in an accessible but illuminating way. The discussion ranges from the shamelessly intellectual to the embarrassingly personal. Spoiler alert: No conclusions are reached either about God or the movies. Nonetheless, it is a fun ride

Volatile chemicals in glands of the carpenter ant, Camponotus arminius

Camponotus arminius is a large black carpenter ant that occurs in tropical and sub-tropical Africa and has extensive foraging trails both in trees and on the ground. Analysis of excised mandibular glands has confirmed The presence of pentane-2,4-dione, n-hexanal, 4-methyl-3-heptanone, and mellein. Pentane-2,4-dione has not been reported from insects. The postpharyngeal gland contains n-heneicosane, n-tricosene, n-tricosane, n-pentacosene, n-pentacosane, and a significant amount of 11-methyl- n-tricosaneand 11-methyl- n-pentacosane. Dufours glands contain mainly n-undecane, n-tridecane, and two terpenoid compounds that are unknown in the genus Camponotus. These latter two compounds are geranyllinalool and probably geranylfarnesol

Endangered sawfishes and river sharks in Western Australia

The coastal waters of the northern Pilbara and the western Kimberley are a global hotspot for sawfish (Pristidae) diversity, with four of the world’s seven1 species found there; these four species comprise all of the known Australian species. This unique group of rays is readily identified by the presence of a blade like snout possessing enlarged tooth like denticles known as rostral teeth (Last and Stevens 2009). Globally, almost all sawfishes have undergone major declines in both range and abundance, largely as a result of their vulnerability to entanglement in fishing nets, but also through loss of habitat. It is only recently that information on the distribution, ecology, biology, population demographics and genetics and habitat utilization of the Australian sawfish fauna has started to become available, with much of this information restricted to grey literature or as unpublished work in progress. There is limited (or no) information on the size of the remaining populations, but many of the world’s sawfish populations are thought to survive in small fragmented areas (e.g. Simpfendorfer 2000). The four Australian species are from two genera, and are typically found throughout northern Australia, but accurate distributional descriptions are hindered by a lack of targeted surveying and are based on: limited surveys, from anecdotal reports or from collections of dried rostra. However, the Pilbara coast and west Kimberley are known to represent an important area for the four species, namely Freshwater Sawfish (Pristis microdon), Dwarf Sawfish (Pristis clavata), Green Sawfish (Pristis zijsron) and the Narrow Sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata).The first three of these species are listed as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and these form the basis of this review; although all are protected species within Western Australia under the Fish Resource Management Act 1994 (FRMA Act). Pristis zijsron was also listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 in Western Australia in 2006.Woodside Energy Ltd contracted the Centre for Fish & Fisheries Research (Murdoch University) to provide an overview of the current knowledge of the three EPBC Act listed pristids (P. microdon, P. clavata and P. zijsron) and also the Endangered (EPBC Act) Northern River Shark (Glyphis garricki) in Western Australian waters.Glyphis garricki was discovered in Western Australia in 2002 (Thorburn and Morgan 2004) and its formal description is recent (Compagno et al. 2008).Collectively, these species represent 50% of Australia’s elasmobranchs that are listed as Vulnerable or higher under the EPBC Act This report presents all known information with regard to their distribution in Western Australia, morphological characteristics, habitat utilization and population structure and genetic diversity in relation to northern Australia populations. The relevance of these data are then discussed in relation to the James Price Point development

Polymorphism in glutathione S-transferase P1 is associated with susceptibility to chemotherapyinduced leukemia

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) detoxify potentially mutagenic and toxic DNA-reactive electrophiles, including metabolites of several chemotherapeutic agents, some of which are suspected human carcinogens. Functional polymorphisms exist in at least three genes that encode GSTs, including GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1. We hypothesize, therefore, that polymorphisms in genes that encode GSTs alter susceptibility to chemotherapy-induced carcinogenesis, specifically to therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML), a devastating complication of long-term cancer survival. Elucidation of genetic determinants may help to identify individuals at increased risk of developing t-AML. To this end, we have examined 89 cases of t-AML, 420 cases of de novo AML, and 1,022 controls for polymorphisms in GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1. Gene deletion of GSTM1 or GSTT1 was not specifically associated with susceptibility to t-AML. Individuals with at least one GSTP1 codon 105 Val allele were significantly over-represented in t-AML cases compared with de novo AML cases [odds ratio (OR), 1.81; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.11–2.94]. Moreover, relative to de novo AML, the GSTP1 codon 105 Val allele occurred more often among t-AML patients with prior exposure to chemotherapy (OR, 2.66; 95% CI, 1.39–5.09), particularly among those with prior exposure to known GSTP1 substrates (OR, 4.34; 95% CI, 1.43–13.20), and not among those t-AML patients with prior exposure to radiotherapy alone (OR,1.01; 95% CI, 0.50–2.07). These data suggest that inheritance of at least one Val allele at GSTP1 codon 105 confers a significantly increased risk of developing t-AML after cytotoxic chemotherapy, but not after radiotherapy

A fast branch-and-prune algorithm for the position analysis of spherical mechanisms

The final publication is available at link.springer.comDifferent branch-and-prune schemes can be found in the literature for numerically solving the position analysis of spherical mechanisms. For the prune operation, they all rely on the propagation of motion intervals. They differ in the way the problem is algebraically formulated. This paper exploits the fact that spherical kinematic loop equations can be formulated as sets of 3 multi-affine polynomials. Multi-affinity has an important impact on how the propagation of motion intervals can be performed because a multi-affine polynomial is uniquely determined by its values at the vertices of a closed hyperbox defined in its domain.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Electrochemically stimulating developments in bioelectronic medicine

Cellular homeostasis is in part controlled by biological generated electrical activity. By interfacing biology with electronic devices this electrical activity can be modulated to actuate cellular behaviour. There are current limitations in merging electronics with biology sufficiently well to target and sense specific electrically active components of cells. By addressing this limitation, researchers give rise to new capabilities for facilitating the twoway transduction signalling mechanisms between the electronic and cellular components. This is required to allow significant advancement of bioelectronic technology which offers new ways of treating and diagnosing diseases. Most of the progress that has been achieved to date in developing bioelectronic therapeutics stimulate neural communication, which ultimately orchestrates organ function back to a healthy state. Some devices used in therapeutics include cochlear and retinal implants and vagus nerve stimulators. However, all cells can be effected by electrical inputs which gives rise to the opportunity to broaden the use of bioelectronic medicine for treating disease. Electronic actuation of non-excitable cells has been shown to lead to ‘programmed’ cell behaviour via application of electronic input which alter key biological processes. A neglected form of cellular electrical communication which has not yet been considered when developing bioelectronics therapeutics is faradaic currents. These are generated during redox reactions. A precedent of electrochemical technology being used to modulate these reactions thereby controlling cell behaviour has already been set. In this mini review we highlight the current state of the art of electronic routes to modulating cell behaviour and identify new ways in which electrochemistry could be used to contribute to the new field of bioelectronic medicine