Authenticity, empathy, and the creative imagination

This article reviews the changing beliefs about artistic integrity and aesthetic value that feed into judgements of rock authenticity, taking issue with scholarship that reduces authenticity to acts of misguided judgement, myths, conceits, and fakery. It argues that there is no consensus about the meaning of authenticity in rock music, as understandings change according to the varied experiences, perceptions, circumstances, and vocabularies of participants. Authenticity in rock should not be approached cynically as if based on deception, gullibility, and ideological illusions, but for the insights it can provide into the circumstances that afford imaginative acts of creative connection and experiential empathy

Effects of surface drainage on dryland salinity

Areas which are salt-affected are often also flooded. Although flooding is not the basic cause of salinity, surface drainage may improve conditions for plant growth, and this article describes suitable method

Controlling disease outbreaks in wildlife using limited culling: modelling classical swine fever incursions in wild pigs in Australia

Disease modelling is one approach for providing new insights into wildlife disease epidemiology. This paper describes a spatio-temporal, stochastic, susceptible- exposed-infected-recovered process model that simulates the potential spread of classical swine fever through a documented, large and free living wild pig population following a simulated incursion. The study area (300 000 km2) was in northern Australia. Published data on wild pig ecology from Australia, and international Classical Swine Fever data was used to parameterise the model. Sensitivity analyses revealed that herd density (best estimate 1-3 pigs km-2), daily herd movement distances (best estimate approximately 1 km), probability of infection transmission between herds (best estimate 0.75) and disease related herd mortality (best estimate 42%) were highly influential on epidemic size but that extraordinary movements of pigs and the yearly home range size of a pig herd were not. CSF generally established (98% of simulations) following a single point introduction. CSF spread at approximately 9 km2 per day with low incidence rates (< 2 herds per day) in an epidemic wave along contiguous habitat for several years, before dying out (when the epidemic arrived at the end of a contiguous sub-population or at a low density wild pig area). The low incidence rate indicates that surveillance for wildlife disease epidemics caused by short lived infections will be most efficient when surveillance is based on detection and investigation of clinical events, although this may not always be practical. Epidemics could be contained and eradicated with culling (aerial shooting) or vaccination when these were adequately implemented. It was apparent that the spatial structure, ecology and behaviour of wild populations must be accounted for during disease management in wildlife. An important finding was that it may only be necessary to cull or vaccinate relatively small proportions of a population to successfully contain and eradicate some wildlife disease epidemics

Copyright and cultural work: an exploration

This article first discusses the contemporary debate on cultural “creativity” and the economy. Second, it considers the current state of UK copyright law and how it relates to cultural work. Third, based on empirical research on British dancers and musicians, an analysis of precarious cultural work is presented. A major focus is how those who follow their art by way of “portfolio” work handle their rights in ways that diverge significantly from the current simplistic assumptions of law and cultural policy. Our conclusions underline the distance between present top-down conceptions of what drives production in the cultural field and the actual practice of dancers and musicians

Integrating Survey and Molecular Approaches to Better Understand Wildlife Disease Ecology

Infectious wildlife diseases have enormous global impacts, leading to human pandemics, global biodiversity declines and socio-economic hardship. Understanding how infection persists and is transmitted in wildlife is critical for managing diseases, but our understanding is limited. Our study aim was to better understand how infectious disease persists in wildlife populations by integrating genetics, ecology and epidemiology approaches. Specifically, we aimed to determine whether environmental or host factors were stronger drivers of Salmonella persistence or transmission within a remote and isolated wild pig (Sus scrofa) population. We determined the Salmonella infection status of wild pigs. Salmonella isolates were genotyped and a range of data was collected on putative risk factors for Salmonella transmission. We a priori identified several plausible biological hypotheses for Salmonella prevalence (cross sectional study design) versus transmission (molecular case series study design) and fit the data to these models. There were 543 wild pig Salmonella observations, sampled at 93 unique locations. Salmonella prevalence was 41% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 37-45%). The median Salmonella DICE coefficient (or Salmonella genetic similarity) was 52% (interquartile range [IQR]: 42-62%). Using the traditional cross sectional prevalence study design, the only supported model was based on the hypothesis that abundance of available ecological resources determines Salmonella prevalence in wild pigs. In the molecular study design, spatial proximity and herd membership as well as some individual risk factors (sex, condition score and relative density) determined transmission between pigs. Traditional cross sectional surveys and molecular epidemiological approaches are complementary and together can enhance understanding of disease ecology: abundance of ecological resources critical for wildlife influences Salmonella prevalence, whereas Salmonella transmission is driven by local spatial, social, density and individual factors, rather than resources. This enhanced understanding has implications for the control of diseases in wildlife populations. Attempts to manage wildlife disease using simplistic density approaches do not acknowledge the complexity of disease ecology

Characterisation of Bacteriophage-Encoded Depolymerases Selective for Key <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> Capsular Exopolysaccharides.

Capsular polysaccharides enable clinically important clones of Klebsiella pneumoniae to cause severe systemic infections in susceptible hosts. Phage-encoded capsule depolymerases have the potential to provide an alternative treatment paradigm in patients when multiple drug resistance has eroded the efficacy of conventional antibiotic chemotherapy. An investigation of 164 K. pneumoniae from intensive care patients in Thailand revealed a large number of distinct K types in low abundance but four (K2, K51, K1, K10) with a frequency of at least 5%. To identify depolymerases with the capacity to degrade capsules associated with these common K-types, 62 lytic phage were isolated from Thai hospital sewage water using K1, K2 and K51 isolates as hosts; phage plaques, without exception, displayed halos indicative of the presence of capsule-degrading enzymes. Phage genomes ranged in size from 41-348 kb with between 50 and 535 predicted coding sequences (CDSs). Using a custom phage protein database we were successful in applying annotation to 30 - 70% (mean = 58%) of these CDSs. The largest genomes, of so-called jumbo phage, carried multiple tRNAs as well as CRISPR repeat and spacer sequences. One of the smaller phage genomes was found to contain a putative Cas type 1E gene, indicating a history of host DNA acquisition in these obligate lytic phage. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) indicated that some phage displayed an extended host range due to the presence of multiple depolymerase genes; in total, 42 candidate depolymerase genes were identified with up to eight in a single genome. Seven distinct virions were selected for further investigation on the basis of host range, phage morphology and WGS. Candidate genes for K1, K2 and K51 depolymerases were expressed and purified as his6-tagged soluble protein and enzymatic activity demonstrated against K. pneumoniae capsular polysaccharides by gel electrophoresis and Anton-Paar rolling ball viscometry. Depolymerases completely removed the capsule in K-type-specific fashion from K. pneumoniae cells. We conclude that broad-host range phage carry multiple enzymes, each with the capacity to degrade a single K-type, and any future use of these enzymes as therapeutic agents will require enzyme cocktails for utility against a range of K. pneumoniae infections

Variation in metapopulation dynamics of a wetland mammal: The effect of hydrology.

Key factors affecting metapopulation dynamics of animals include patch size, isolation, and patch quality. For wetland-associated species, hydrology can affect patch availability, connectivity, and potentially habitat quality; and therefore drive metapopulation dynamics. Wetlands occurring on natural river floodplains typically have more dynamic hydrology than anthropogenic wetlands. Our overall objective was to assess the multiyear spatial and temporal variation in occupancy and turnover rates of a semi-aquatic small mammal at two hydrologically distinct wetland complexes. We live-trapped marsh rice rats (Oryzomys palustris) for 3 yr and \u3e50 000 trap nights at nine wetland patches on the Mississippi River floodplain and 14 patches at a reclaimed surface mine in southern Illinois. We used dynamic occupancy modeling to estimate initial occupancy, detection, colonization, and extinction rates at each complex. Catch per unit effort (rice rats captured/1000 trap nights) was markedly higher at the floodplain site (28.1) than the mining site (8.1). We found no evidence that temperature, rainfall, or trapping effort affected detection probability. Probability of initial occupancy was similar between sites and positively related to patch size. Patch colonization probability at both sites was related negatively to total rainfall 3 weeks prior to trapping, and varied across years differently at each site. We found interacting effects of site and rainfall on extinction probability: extinction increased with total rainfall 3 months prior to trapping but markedly more at the floodplain site than at the mining site. These site-specific patterns of colonization and extinction are consistent with the rice rat metapopulation in the floodplain exhibiting a habitat-tracking dynamic (occupancy dynamics driven by fluctuating quality), whereas the mineland complex behaved more as a classic metapopulation (stochastic colonization & extinction). Our study supports previous work demonstrating metapopulation dynamics in wetland systems being driven by changes in patch quality (via hydrology) rather than solely area and isolation

Analysis of CC chemokine and chemokine receptor expression in solid ovarian tumours

To understand the chemokine network in a tissue, both chemokine and chemokine receptor expression should be studied. Human epithelial ovarian tumours express a range of chemokines but little is known about the expression and localisation of chemokine receptors. With the aim of understanding chemokine action in this cancer, we investigated receptors for CC–chemokines and their ligands in 25 biopsies of human ovarian cancer. CC–chemokine receptor mRNA was generally absent from solid tumours, the exception being CCR1 which was detected in samples from 75% of patients. CCR1 mRNA localised to macrophages and lymphocytes and there was a correlation between numbers of CD8+ and CCR1 expressing cells (P = 0.031). mRNA for 6 CC-chemokines was expressed in a majority of tumour samples. In a monocytic cell line in vitro, we found that CCR1 mRNA expression was increased 5-fold by hypoxia. We suggest that the CC-chemokine network in ovarian cancer is controlled at the level of CC-chemokine receptors and this may account for the phenotypes of infiltrating cells found in these tumours. The leukocyte infiltrate may contribute to tumour growth and spread by providing growth survival factors and matrix metalloproteases. Thus, CCR1 may be a novel therapeutic target in ovarian cancer. http://www.bjcancer.com © 2001 Cancer Research Campaignhttp://www.bjcancer.co