Close focus : interpreting Western Australia’s visual culture

Distance from the centres of world art and from national hubs of creative practice provides both opportunities and constraints for Western Australian visual artists. Informed but isolated, they have learned to direct the lens shaped by received ideas onto the extraordinary natural environment they inhabit. Regional perspectives influence this act of re-focusing, which is inflected by local knowledge and personal experience in a process of reinvention and re-imagination that has escalated since the Second World War.The objective of this PhD by supplication is to situate my practice as an art historian, critic and curator within the broader context of Australian visual culture and to examine how the process of assimilation, described by George Seddon as taking 'imaginative possession', has contributed to our understanding of local identity within the wider framework of a national identity.In my writing and through my activity as a curator of exhibitions over the past two decades, I have identified the importance of local conditions in generating a critical, regional practice and I have shown how imported ideas have been absorbed, modified and accommodated within the work of the State’s leading artists to create a vibrant sense of regional identity that makes a significant contribution to our understanding of a wider and more comprehensive view of cultural practice in Australia

<i>In vivo</i> half-life extension of BMP1/TLL metalloproteinase inhibitors using small-molecule human serum albumin binders

Reducing the required frequence of drug dosing can improve the adherence of patients to chronic treatments. Hence, drugs with longer half-lives are highly desirable. One of the most promising approaches to extend the half-life of drugs is conjugation to human serum albumin (HSA). In this work, we describe the use of , a small-molecule noncovalent HSA binder, to extend the half-life and pharmacology of small-molecule BMP1/TLL inhibitors in humanized mice (HSA KI/KI). A series of conjugates of with BMP1/TLL inhibitors were prepared. In particular, showed good solubility and a half-life extension of &gt;20-fold versus the parent molecule in the HSA KI/KI mice, reaching half-lives of &gt;48 h with maintained maximal inhibition of plasma BMP1/TLL. The same conjugate showed a half-life of only 3 h in the wild-type mice, suggesting that the half-life extension was principally due to specific interactions with HSA. It is envisioned that conjugation to should be applicable to a wide range of small molecule or peptide drugs with short half-lives. In this context, AlbuBinders represent a viable alternative to existing half-life extension technologies

BioTIME:a database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene

Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community led open-source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.Main types of variables included: The database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of two, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology andcontextual information about each record.Spatial location and grain: BioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km2 (158 cm2) to 100 km2 (1 000 000 000 000 cm2).Time period and grain: BioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimum temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is year.Major taxa and level of measurement: BioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton, and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates.Software format: .csv and .SQ

Are rare species useful species? Obstacles to the conservation of tree diversity in the dry forest zone agro-ecosystems of Mesoamerica

Aim To test the potential to conserve rare dry forest tree and shrub species circa situm.Location Oaxaca, Mexico and Southern Honduras.Methods Local uses (timber, posts and firewood) of species were determined principally through semistructured interviews with 20 rural householders in each of four communities in Honduras and four in Oaxaca. Tree and shrub diversity inventories were carried out in a total of 227 forest patches and parcels of farmland in those eight communities. Species’ conservation priorities were determined using the star system of Hawthorne (1996) and IUCN listings.Results Despite a large number of useful species, remarkably few were also conservation priorities. Useful species were found to be substitutable as is illustrated by Bombacopsis quinata, Cordia alliodora, Guaiacum sanctum and G. coulteri.Conclusions In these areas, circa situm conservation is inhibited by the lack of species that are both rare and useful. Usefulness must be interpreted as a function of substitutability. Natural regeneration provides an abundance of diversity, farmers are unlikely to invest in the management of a species when suitable substitutes are freely available. The key to conserving rare species may be in maintaining or enhancing the value of the landscape elements in which they are found

BioTIME:a database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene

Abstract Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community‐led open‐source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Main types of variables included: The database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record. Spatial location and grain: BioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km² (158 cm²) to 100 km² (1,000,000,000,000 cm²). Time period and grain: BioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year. Major taxa and level of measurement: BioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates. Software format: .csv and .SQL

Risk of COVID-19 after natural infection or vaccinationResearch in context

Summary: Background: While vaccines have established utility against COVID-19, phase 3 efficacy studies have generally not comprehensively evaluated protection provided by previous infection or hybrid immunity (previous infection plus vaccination). Individual patient data from US government-supported harmonized vaccine trials provide an unprecedented sample population to address this issue. We characterized the protective efficacy of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and hybrid immunity against COVID-19 early in the pandemic over three-to six-month follow-up and compared with vaccine-associated protection. Methods: In this post-hoc cross-protocol analysis of the Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, and Novavax COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, we allocated participants into four groups based on previous-infection status at enrolment and treatment: no previous infection/placebo; previous infection/placebo; no previous infection/vaccine; and previous infection/vaccine. The main outcome was RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 >7–15 days (per original protocols) after final study injection. We calculated crude and adjusted efficacy measures. Findings: Previous infection/placebo participants had a 92% decreased risk of future COVID-19 compared to no previous infection/placebo participants (overall hazard ratio [HR] ratio: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.05–0.13). Among single-dose Janssen participants, hybrid immunity conferred greater protection than vaccine alone (HR: 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01–0.10). Too few infections were observed to draw statistical inferences comparing hybrid immunity to vaccine alone for other trials. Vaccination, previous infection, and hybrid immunity all provided near-complete protection against severe disease. Interpretation: Previous infection, any hybrid immunity, and two-dose vaccination all provided substantial protection against symptomatic and severe COVID-19 through the early Delta period. Thus, as a surrogate for natural infection, vaccination remains the safest approach to protection. Funding: National Institutes of Health