A novel Y-specific long non-coding RNA associated with cellular lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells and Atherosclerosis-related genes
- Authors: Molina, Elsa , Chew, Guat , Myers, Stephen , Clarence, Elyse , Eales, James , Tomaszewski, Maciej , Charchar, Fadi
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Scientific Reports Vol. 7, no. 1 (2017), p. 1-12
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1009490
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- Description: There is an increasing appreciation for the role of the human Y chromosome in phenotypic differences between the sexes in health and disease. Previous studies have shown that genetic variation within the Y chromosome is associated with cholesterol levels, which is an established risk factor for atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of coronary artery disease (CAD), a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, the exact mechanism and potential genes implicated are still unidentified. To date, Y chromosome-linked long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are poorly characterized and the potential link between these new regulatory RNA molecules and hepatic function in men has not been investigated. Advanced technologies of lncRNA subcellular localization and silencing were used to identify a novel intergenic Y-linked lncRNA, named lnc-KDM5D-4, and investigate its role in fatty liver-associated atherosclerosis. We found that lnc-KDM5D-4 is retained within the nucleus in hepatocytes. Its knockdown leads to changes in genes leading to increased lipid droplets formation in hepatocytes resulting in a downstream effect contributing to the chronic inflammatory process that underpin CAD. Our findings provide the first evidence for the implication of lnc-KDM5D-4 in key processes related to fatty liver and cellular inflammation associated with atherosclerosis and CAD in men.
Analysis of EGM licensing decisions by the gambling regulator, Victoria, Australia
- Authors: Francis, Louise , Livingstone, Charles , Rintoul, Angela
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Gambling Studies Vol. 17, no. 1 (2017), p. 65-86
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Gambling expansion is commonly justified in public discourse by claims of community benefit, increased employment and capital investment. Compared to other jurisdictions, the Electronic Gambling Machine (EGM) license process in Victoria, Australia, is relatively transparent and amenable to analysis. This article describes research that assessed factors relevant to EGM license decisions made by Victoria’s gambling regulator between 2007 and 2014. During the period under review, the regulator granted 144 of 154 applications, finding that approving these applications would not be detrimental to relevant communities. Most commonly cited factors supporting approvals were commitments to undertake capital works, contribute to community purposes and increase employment. The regulator overwhelmingly agreed that supportive factors would balance harms, such as problem gambling, high levels of expenditure or socio-economic disadvantage. This research demonstrates the difficulty of balancing apparently quantifiable benefits against less readily measurable gambling-related harms in regulatory decision-making. The study found that harms were poorly conceived and understood inadequately and supportive factors frequently overstated. This process may lead to unnecessarily high levels of community harm, contradicting the purposes of the relevant legislation. The article suggests that better, more consistently applied principles are required to ensure the more rigorous scrutiny of supportive factors and improved understanding of gambling harms. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Challenges faced by shorebird species using the inland wetlands of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway : The little curlew example
- Authors: Bellio, Mariagrazia , Minton, Clive , Veltheim, Inka
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Marine and Freshwater Research Vol. 68, no. 6 (2017), p. 999-1009
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Asia is experiencing an alarming rate of inland wetlands loss, posing a risk to the future long-term survival of many species depending on these ecosystems. This review on the status and conservation of the little curlew (Numenius minutus) aims to draw attention to the conservation challenges faced by migratory shorebird species using the inland wetlands of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF). Extensive and systematic research survey efforts along the EAAF have focused on species using coastal and tidal areas rather than on species using inland wetlands. Knowledge gaps include functional ecology and physiological responses to quality of food resources, population trends, migratory strategy and the role species play in supporting ecosystems resilience. Studies using remote sensing and geographic information system techniques to track the movements of birds along the flyway and to map habitat condition will prove essential in the future to allow a better understanding of the dynamics occurring at the stopover areas, how birds use resources and what competition pressures exist among species. Ultimately, these studies will contribute to our ability to predict changes and establish management practices for the long-term protection and conservation of the stopover areas for a suite of shorebird species using inland wetlands along the flyway. © CSIRO 2017.
Cognitive distortions among older adult gamblers in an Asian context
- Authors: Subramaniam, Mythily , Chong, Siow , Browning, Colette , Thomas, Shane
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 12, no. 5 (2017), p.
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- Description: Aims: The study aims to describe the construct of cognitive distortions based on the narratives of older adult gamblers (aged 60 years and above) in Singapore. Methods: Singapore residents (citizens or permanent residents) aged 60 years and above, who were current or past regular gamblers were included in the study. Participants were recruited using a combination of venue based approach, referrals from service providers as well as by snowball sampling. In all, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with older adult gamblers. The six-step thematic network analysis methodology was adopted for data analysis. Results: The mean age of the participants was 66.2 years. The majority were male (n = 18), of Chinese ethnicity (n = 16), with a mean age of gambling initiation at 24.5 years. Among older adult gamblers, cognitive distortions emerged as a significant global theme comprising three organizing themes-illusion of control, probability control and interpretive control. The organizing themes comprised nine basic themes: perception of gambling as a skill, near miss, concept of luck, superstitious beliefs, entrapment, gambler's fallacy, chasing wins, chasing losses, and beliefs that wins are more than losses. Conclusions: Cognitive distortions were endorsed by all gamblers in the current study and were shown to play a role in both maintaining and escalating the gambling behaviour. While the surface characteristics of the distortions had a culture-specific appearance, the deeper characteristics of the distortions may in fact be more universal than previously thought. Future research must include longitudinal studies to understand causal relationships between cognitive distortions and gambling as well as the role of culture-specific distortions both in the maintenance and treatment of the disorder. © 2017 Subramaniam et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Do not “let them eat cake” : Correlation of food-consumption patterns among rural primary school children from welfare and non-welfare households
- Authors: Terry, Daniel , Ervin, Kaye , Soutter, Erin , Spiller, Renata , Nogare, Nicole , Hamilton, Andrew
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol. 14, no. 1 (2017), p. 1-10
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- Description: Physical and financial access impacts food choice and consumption, while educational attainment, employment, income, gender, and socioeconomic status are also influential. Within this context, the aim of the paper is to examine the association between various foods consumed and eating patterns of children between low and higher income households. A paper-based survey was completed by parents/carers of children in 41 primary schools in rural and regional areas of Victoria. Data collected included demographics and the consumption of fruit, vegetable, and other foods including drinks. Ordinal data were analysed using Spearman’s rank-order correlation. The main findings were that children who consumed more fruit and vegetables tended to have a higher intake of healthy drinks (plain milk and water) as well as a lower intake of unhealthy snacks and drinks (sugar sweetened drinks). Those who perceived that fruit and vegetables cost too much reported greater consumption of unhealthy snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages, which was more prominent in low-income households. Changing food consumption behaviours requires a complex systems-based approach that addresses more than just individual issues variables. A participatory approach that works with local communities and seeks to build an understanding of unique challenges within sub-groups has potential for embedding long-lasting and meaningful change in eating behaviours. © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Effect of schwertmannite and jarosite on the formation of hypoxic blackwater during inundation of grass material
- Authors: Vithana, Chamindra , Sullivan, Leigh , Shepherd, Troy
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Water Research Vol. 124, no. (2017), p. 1-10
- Full Text: false
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- Description: This study focused on understanding the effect of schwertmannite and jarosite, commonly found in floodplains containing acid sulfate soil materials, on the characteristics of the hypoxic blackwaters that can form when floodplain vegetation experiences prolonged inundation. The formation of these ‘blackwaters’ was simulated in the laboratory by inundating flood-intolerant pasture grass leaf material in both the presence of schwertmannite/jarosite (schwertmannite and jarosite treatments) minerals and their absence (control treatment) at 27.5 °C for 32 days. The presence of either schwertmannite or jarosite was able to decrease the concentrations of DOC, nutrients (e.g. NH3 and PO4 3−) and the biological oxygen demand (BOD) in the incubating water compared to the control treatment. Being fresh and labile, the pasture grass material liberated DOC immediately following inundation with a concomitant decrease in dissolved O2 thereby resulting in anoxic and reducing conditions in the incubating water. With the onset of anoxic and reducing conditions, the biogeochemical cycling of DOC in schwertmannite and jarosite treatments might have proceeded via microbially mediated iron(III) and sulfate reduction and electron shuttling processes. Under anoxic, slightly acidic conditions, microbially mediated iron(III) reduction and subsequent dissolution of schwertmannite and jarosite were triggered by liberating Fe2+, SO4 2− and alkalinity to the incubating water. The resultant increase in pH led to SO4 2− reduction in schwertmannite, and the Fe2+ catalysed transformation of both schwertmannite and jarosite to goethite. Schwertmannite almost completely transformed to goethite within two weeks of incubation. Iron(III) in goethite (formed from schwertmannie transformation) was also reduced and likely proceeded via direct microbial reduction or via electron shuttling using the humic acids in the incubating water derived from pasture grass. These findings are highly useful in managing the coastal low lying acid sulfate soils landscapes which are subject to frequent flooding during wet seasons. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd
Flow regulation simplifies a lowland fish assemblage in the lower river Murray, South Australia
- Authors: Wedderburn, Scotte , Hammer, Michael , Bice, Christopher , Lloyd, Lance , Whiterod, Nick , Zampatti, Brenton
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia Vol. 141, no. 2 (2017), p. 169-192
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Regulation has profoundly altered the ecological character of many rivers in the world, with pronounced effects in dryland systems subject to competing demand for water between the environment and society. Pervasive changes to flow regimes have cascading effects on ecological processes and biota attuned to natural variability. The Lower River Murray in south-eastern Australia occupies a curious landscape, being a large lowland river flowing through semi-arid environs fed by a vast inland basin from upstream temperate (River Murray, seasonally predictable) and subtropical-to-desert (Darling River, episodic and highly variable) regions. Extensive regulation via upland dams, water abstraction and serial lowland weirs has reduced mean annual discharge to the sea by two-thirds and transformed riverine hydraulics, leading to dramatic changes in the composition and abundance of biota, including the simplification of a formerly biologically and functionally diverse fish assemblage. Research since the 1980s, often led by the late Keith Forbes Walker, has sought to characterise ecological response to regulation on the Lower River Murray to understand pattern and process and aid in rehabilitation. This paper synthesises a significant body of work relating to freshwater fishes in the river to set a foundation for future monitoring, research and management. © 2017 Royal Society of South Australia.
Geographic variation of the incidence rate of lower limb amputation in Australia from 2007-12
- Authors: Dillon, Michael , Fortington, Lauren , Akram, Muhammad , Erbas, Bircan , Kohler, Friedbert
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 12, no. 1 (2017), p. 1-14
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- Description: In Australia, little is known about how the incidence rate (IR) of lower limb amputation (LLA) varies across the country. While studies in other economically developed countries have shown considerable geographic variation in the IR-LLA, mostly these have not considered whether the effect of common risk factors are the same across regions. Mapping variation of the IR-LLA, and the effect of common risk factors, is an important first step to focus research into areas of greatest need and support the development of regional specific hypotheses for in-depth examination. The aim of this study was to describe the geographic variation in the IR-LLA across Australia and understand whether the effect of common risk factors was the same across regions. Using hospital episode data from the Australian National Hospital Morbidity database and Australian Bureau of Statistics, the all-cause crude and age-standardised IR-LLA in males and females were calculated for the nation and each state and territory. Generalised Linear Models were developed to understand which factors influenced geographic variation in the crude IR-LLA. While the crude and age-standardised IR-LLA in males and females were similar in most states and territories, they were higher in the Northern Territory. The effect of older age, being male and the presence of type 2 diabetes was associated with an increase of IR-LLA in most states and territories. In the Northern Territory, the younger age at amputation confounded the effect of sex and type 2 diabetes. There are likely to be many factors not included in this investigation, such as Indigenous status, that may explain part of the variation in the IR-LLA not captured in our models. Further research is needed to identify regional- and population-specific factors that could be modified to reduce the IR-LLA in all states and territories of Australia. © 2017 Dillon et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
In search of academic legitimacy : The current state of scholarship on graffiti and street art
- Authors: Ross, Jeffrey , Bengtsen, Peter , Lennon, John , Phillips, Susan , Wilson, Jacqueline
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Social Science Journal Vol. 54, no. 4 (2017), p. 411-419
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Much has changed since the 1960s when the first scholarship on contemporary graffiti appeared. The current paper is an attempt to outline and contextualize a number of recurrent challenges facing researchers of graffiti and street art, as well as developments that have taken place in this scholarly field. The aim of creating this outline is to assist in increasing the amount, and improving the quality, of future scholarship on graffiti and street art. We recognize, however, that although many of the challenges have at one time seemed insurmountable, over time they have lessened as graffiti and street art have grown as art movements, and because a small cadre of tenacious scholars focusing on graffiti and street art has published and taught in this area. An increasing, though limited, number of academic venues focused on graffiti and street art scholarship has slowly emerged. We also recognize that with increased scholarship that has laid the foundation, new avenues to explore graffiti and street art have become apparent. © 2017 Western Social Science Association
In-vitro digestion of probiotic bacteria and omega-3 oil co-microencapsulated in whey protein isolate-gum Arabic complex coacervates
- Authors: Eratte, Divya , Dowling, Kim , Barrow, Colin , Adhikari, Benu
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Food Chemistry Vol. 227, no. (2017), p. 129-136
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Solid co-microcapsules of omega-3 rich tuna oil and probiotic bacteria L. casei were produced using whey protein isolate-gum Arabic complex coacervate as wall material. The in-vitro digestibility of the co-microcapsules and microcapsules was studied in terms of survival of L. casei and release of oil in sequential exposure to simulated salivary, gastric and intestinal fluids. Co-microencapsulation significantly increased the survival and surface hydrophobicity and the ability of L. casei to adhere to the intestinal wall. No significant difference in the assimilative reduction of cholesterol was observed between the microencapsulated and co-microencapsulated L. casei. The pattern of release of oil from the microcapsules and co-microcapsules was similar. However, the content of total chemically intact omega-3 fatty acids was higher in the oil released from co-microcapsules than the oil released from microcapsules. The co-microencapsulation can deliver bacterial cells and omega-3 oil to human intestinal system with less impact on functional properties. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd
Internationalization and performance : Evidence from Bangladeshi banks
- Authors: Barua, Suborna , Khan, Tasneema , Barua, Bipasha
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: The Journal of Developing Areas Vol. 51, no. 2 (2017), p. 105-118
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- Description: Internationalization of banking institutions has been more evident to a greater extent recently due to the advancement of technology and global inter-connectedness of the business world. As the "engine of economic growth" banks are the dominant players in Bangladesh financial market. Due to quick market saturation, highly competitive domestic market and need for innovation, banks in Bangladesh are tending to move towards international market. Using six financial performance measures and five internationalization variables, this paper examines the impact of different internationalization dimensions on financial performance of the banks. The study estimates 18 models on panel data of 35 scheduled banks for 2005 to 2014 using Dricoll-Kraay, Prais-Winsten alongside Fixed and Random Effect estimation techniques. Findings suggest that net effect of internationalization is on average negative for all banks however it is significantly negative for the SOBs compared to PCBs. The paper also finds that physical presence in foreign countries, level of internationalization banks place themselves and age of international operation have significant impact on most of the performance measures. This paper contributes to existing literatures by: using new dimensions to define internationalization, examining impact on six different performance measures, being the first study on internationalization of Bangladeshi banks, and generating some unique findings.
Investigation on the fiber based approach to estimate the axial load carrying capacity of the circular concrete filled steel tube (CFST)
- Authors: Piscesa, Bambang , Attard, Mario , Suprobo, Priyo , Samani, Ali Khajeh
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: International Conference of Applied Science and Technology for Infrastructure Engineering 2017, ICASIE 2017; East Java, Indonesia; 5 August 2017; published in IOP Conference series: Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 267, p. 1-9
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- Description: External confining devices are often used to enhance the strength and ductility of reinforced concrete columns. Among the available external confining devices, steel tube is one of the most widely used in construction. However, steel tube has some drawbacks such as local buckling which needs to be considered when estimating the axial load carrying capacity of the concrete-filled-steel-tube (CFST) column. To tackle this problem in design, Eurocode 4 provided guidelines to estimate the effective yield strength of the steel tube material. To study the behavior of CFST column, in this paper, a non-linear analysis using a fiber-based approach was conducted. The use of the fiber-based approach allows the engineers to predict not only the axial load carrying capacity but also the complete load-deformation curve of the CFST columns for a known confining pressure. In the proposed fiber-based approach, an inverse analysis is used to estimate the constant confining pressure similar to design-oriented models. This paper also presents comparisons between the fiber-based approach model with the experimental results and the 3D non-linear finite element analysis.
Land use impacts on river health of Uma Oya, Sri Lanka : Implications of spatial scales
- Authors: Jayawardana, J. , Gunawardana, W. , Udayakumara, E. , Westbrooke, Martin
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Vol. 189, no. 4 (2017), p. 1-23
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- Description: Human actions on landscapes are a principal threat to the ecological integrity of river ecosystems worldwide. Tropical landscapes have been poorly investigated in terms of the impact of catchment land cover alteration on water quality and biotic indices in comparison to temperate landscapes. Effects of land cover in the catchment at two spatial scales (catchment and site) on stream physical habitat quality, water quality, macroinvertebrate indices and community composition were evaluated for Uma Oya catchment in the upper Mahaweli watershed, Sri Lanka. The relationship between spatial arrangement of land cover in the catchment and water quality, macroinvertebrate indices and community composition was examined using univariate and multivariate approaches. Results indicate that chemical water quality variables such as conductivity and total dissolved solids are mostly governed by the land cover at broader spatial scales such as catchment scale. Shannon diversity index was also affected by catchment scale forest cover. In stream habitat features, nutrients such as N-NO3 −, macroinvertebrate family richness, %shredders and macroinvertebrate community assemblages were predominantly influenced by the extent of land cover at 200 m site scale suggesting that local riparian forest cover is important in structuring macroinvertebrate communities. Thus, this study emphasizes the importance of services provided by forest cover at catchment and site scale in enhancing resilience of stream ecosystems to natural forces and human actions. Findings suggest that land cover disturbance effects on stream ecosystem health could be predicted when appropriate spatial arrangement of land cover is considered and has widespread application in the management of tropical river catchments. © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
Large anthropogenic impacts on a charismatic small carnivore : Insights from distribution surveys of red panda Ailurusfulgens in Nepal
- Authors: Panthi, Saroj , Khanal, Gopal , Acharya, Krishna , Aryal, Achyut , Srivathsa, Arjun
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 12, no. 7 (2017), p. 1-14
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Protected areas are key to preserving biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem services. However, their ability to ensure long-term survival of threatened andendangered species varies across countries, regions and landscapes. Distribution surveys can beparticularly important for assessing the value of protected areas, and gauging their efficacy incatering to species-specific requirements. We assessed the conservation value of one such reserve for a charismatic yet globally endangered species, the red panda Ailurus fulgens, in the light of on-going land-use transformation in Nepal. We conducted field surveys forindirect signs of red pandas along forest trails in 25-km2 sampling grid cells (n = 54) of Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, and confronted a set of ecological hypotheses to the data using hierarchical occupancy models. We estimated overall occupancy at Ψ(SE) = 0.41 (0.007), with relatively high site-level detectability [p = 0.93 (SE = 0.001)]. Our results show that despitebeing a subsistence form of small-scale resource use, extraction of bamboo and livestock grazing negatively affected panda occurrence, albeit at different intensities. The amount of bamboo cover, rather than the overall proportion of forest cover, had greater influence on the panda occurrence. Despite availability of bamboo cover, areas with bamboo extraction and anthropogenic disturbances were less likely to be occupied by pandas. Together, these results suggest that long-term persistence of red pandas in this reserve and elsewhere across the species' range will require preventing commercial extraction of bamboo, coupled with case-specific regulation of anthropogenic exploitation of red panda habitats. © 2017 Panthi et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Lost in optimisation of water distribution systems? A literature review of system operation
- Authors: Mala-Jetmarova, Helena , Sultanova, Nargiz , Savic, Dragan
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Environmental Modelling and Software Vol. 93, no. (2017), p. 209-254
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- Description: Optimisation of the operation of water distribution systems has been an active research field for almost half a century. It has focused mainly on optimal pump operation to minimise pumping costs and optimal water quality management to ensure that standards at customer nodes are met. This paper provides a systematic review by bringing together over two hundred publications from the past three decades, which are relevant to operational optimisation of water distribution systems, particularly optimal pump operation, valve control and system operation for water quality purposes of both urban drinking and regional multiquality water distribution systems. Uniquely, it also contains substantial and thorough information for over one hundred publications in a tabular form, which lists optimisation models inclusive of objectives, constraints, decision variables, solution methodologies used and other details. Research challenges in terms of simulation models, optimisation model formulation, selection of optimisation method and postprocessing needs have also been identified. © 2017
Microbiota of little penguins and short-tailed shearwaters during development
- Authors: Dewar, Meagan , Arnould, John , Allnutt, Theo , Crowley, Tamsyn , Krause, Lutz , Reynolds, John , Dann, Peter , Smith, Stuart
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 12, no. 8 (2017), p.
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- Description: The establishment and early colonisation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract has been recognised as a crucial stage in chick development, with pioneering microbial species responsible for influencing the development of the GI tract and influencing host health, fitness and disease status throughout life. Development of the microbiota in long lived seabirds is poorly understood. This study characterised the microbial composition of little penguin and short-tailed shearwater chicks throughout development, using Quantitative Real Time PCR (qPCR) and 16S rRNA sequencing. The results indicated that microbial development differed between the two seabird species with the short-tailed shearwater microbiota being relatively stable throughout development whilst significant fluctuations in the microbial composition and an upward trend in the abundance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were observed in the little penguin. When the microbial composition of adults and chicks was compared, both species showed low similarity in microbial composition, indicating that the adult microbiota may have a negligible influence over the chick’s microbiota.
New diagonal bundle method for clustering problems in large data sets
- Authors: Karmitsa, Napsu , Bagirov, Adil , Taheri, Sona
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Journal of Operational Research Vol. 263, no. 2 (2017), p. 367-379
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140103213
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Clustering is one of the most important tasks in data mining. Recent developments in computer hardware allow us to store in random access memory (RAM) and repeatedly read data sets with hundreds of thousands and even millions of data points. This makes it possible to use conventional clustering algorithms in such data sets. However, these algorithms may need prohibitively large computational time and fail to produce accurate solutions. Therefore, it is important to develop clustering algorithms which are accurate and can provide real time clustering in large data sets. This paper introduces one of them. Using nonsmooth optimization formulation of the clustering problem the objective function is represented as a difference of two convex (DC) functions. Then a new diagonal bundle algorithm that explicitly uses this structure is designed and combined with an incremental approach to solve this problem. The method is evaluated using real world data sets with both large number of attributes and large number of data points. The proposed method is compared with two other clustering algorithms using numerical results. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
Perceived injury risk among junior cricketers : A cross sectional survey
- Authors: Gamage, Prasanna , Fortington, Lauren , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol. 14, no. 8 (2017), p. 1-11
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- Description: Understanding how junior athletes perceive injury risks when participating in sport and the environment they play in is an important component of injury prevention. This study investigates how Sri Lankan junior cricketers (n = 365, aged 11–14 years, boys) perceive injury risks associated with playing cricket. The study used a Sri Lankan modification of an Australian junior cricket injury risk perception survey that considered playing cricket versus other sports, different cricket playing positions and roles, and different ground conditions. The risk of playing cricket was considered to be greater than that for cycling, but lower than that for rugby and soccer. Fast-bowlers, batters facing fast-bowlers, fielding close in the field, and wicket-keeping without a helmet were perceived to pose greater risks of injury than other scenarios. Playing on hard, bumpy and/or wet ground conditions were perceived to have a high risk opposed to playing on a grass field. Fielding in the outfield and wicket-keeping to fast-bowlers whilst wearing a helmet were perceived as low risk actions. The risk perceptions of junior cricketers identified in this study, do not necessarily reflect the true injury risk in some instances. This information will inform the development of injury prevention education interventions to address these risk perceptions in junior cricketers. © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Risk of post-fire metal mobilization into surface water resources : A review
- Authors: Abraham, Joji , Dowling, Kim , Florentine, Singarayer
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Science of the Total Environment Vol. 599-600, no. (2017), p. 1740-1755
- Full Text: false
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- Description: One of the significant economic benefits to communities around the world of having pristine forest catchments is the supply of substantial quantities of high quality potable water. This supports a saving of around US$ 4.1 trillion per year globally by limiting the cost of expensive drinking water treatments and provision of unnecessary infrastructure. Even low levels of contaminants specifically organics and metals in catchments when in a mobile state can reduce these economic benefits by seriously affecting the water quality. Contamination and contaminant mobility can occur through natural and anthropogenic activities including forest fires. Moderate to high intensity forest fires are able to alter soil properties and release sequestered metals from sediments, soil organic matter and fragments of vegetation. In addition, the increase in post-fire erosion rate by rainfall runoff and strong winds facilitates the rapid transport of these metals downslope and downstream. The subsequent metal deposition in distal soil and water bodies can influence surface water quality with potential impacts to the larger ecosystems inclusive of negative effects on humans. This is of substantial concern as 4 billion hectares of forest catchments provide high quality water to global communities. Redressing this problem requires quantification of the potential effects on water resources and instituting rigorous fire and environmental management plans to mitigate deleterious effects on catchment areas. This paper is a review of the current state of the art literature dealing with the risk of post-fire mobilization of the metals into surface water resources. It is intended to inform discussion on the preparation of suitable management plans and policies during and after fire events in order to maintain potable water quality in a cost-effective manner. In these times of climate fluctuation and increased incidence of fires, the need for development of new policies and management frameworks are of heighted significance. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
Study on Parameters Determination of Marble RHT Model
- Authors: Li, Hong-chao , Liu, Dian-shu , Zhao, Lei , Li, Chen , Zhang, Zhenyuan
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Beijing Ligong Daxue Xuebao/Transaction of Beijing Institute of Technology Vol. 37, no. 8 (2017), p. 801-806
- Full Text: false
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- Description: RHT model includes 34 parameters. The values of A, n, fs *, ft *, Q0, gc *, ξ, D1, εp m, Af, nf, pcomp and N are hard to be determined due to the complicated experimental methods. In previous researches on simulation of rock blasting based on RHT model, many scholars quoted directly from the relevant parameters of concrete or they simply modified values of concrete parameters with little consideration of the kinds of rock material. To get the fairly accurate relevant parameter values of marble, the orthogonal experiment method and LS-Dyna numerical computation were used in this paper to determine and optimize the above parameters on the basis of static tests, wave velocity tests and SHPB impacting experiments. This paper also made a comparison between the simulation curves before and after the optimizing and the stress-strain curves of marble specimen processed by the SHPB impacting experiment. The final results show that the errors between the simulate curve and SHPB impacting experiment curve were decreased dramatically after the parameters had been processed by the orthogonal experiment. The appropriate parameters of the marble RHT model were obtained. © 2017, Editorial Department of Transaction of Beijing Institute of Technology. All right reserved.