Ecological monitoring to support Water Sharing Plan evaluation and protect wetlands of inland New South Wales,Australia

Government‐funded flow response monitoring and modelling programmes (flow science) provided by the New South Wales Office of Water (NOW) have supported water resource management since 1997. Flow science has a core technical component defined by hypothesis‐driven long‐term monitoring and analysis, but it also represents many activities that support committees involved in environmental flow management. This is done through collaborations and contracting and has fostered considerable research and analysis into flow ecology, including modelling for the recent Murray–Darling Basin Plan. We describe the performance of environmental flows against legislated wetland objectives to improve wetland function and diversity using flow science. On‐ground monitoring at wetland sites has largely ceased but the flow science done so far indicates that the environmental flow rules written into Water Sharing Plans improve wetland diversity and function. Determination of the long‐term flow needs of NSW wetlands, including how well current Water Sharing Plans aid the delivery of environmental flows, requires finding the means to build on current flow science knowledge from across Australia.     

Repeated oral administration of capsaicin increases anxiety-like behaviours with prolonged stress-response in rats

This study was conducted to examine the psycho-emotional effects of repeated oral exposure to capsaicin, the principal active component of chili peppers. Each rat received 1 mL of 0.02% capsaicin into its oral cavity daily, and was subjected to behavioural tests following 10 daily administrations of capsaicin. Stereotypy counts and rostral grooming were significantly increased, and caudal grooming decreased, in capsaicin-treated rats during the ambulatory activity test. In elevated plus maze test, not only the time spent in open arms but also the percent arm entry into open arms was reduced in capsaicin-treated rats compared with control rats. In forced swim test, although swimming duration was decreased, struggling increased in the capsaicin group, immobility duration did not differ between the groups. Repeated oral capsaicin did not affect the basal levels of plasma corticosterone; however, the stress-induced elevation of plasma corticosterone was prolonged in capsaicin treated rats. Oral capsaicin exposure significantly increased c-Fos expression not only in the nucleus tractus of solitarius but also in the paraventricular nucleus. Results suggest that repeated oral exposure to capsaicin increases anxiety-like behaviours in rats, and dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis may play a role in its pathophysiology.     

Grapefruit Derived Flavonoid Naringin Improves Ketoacidosis and Lipid Peroxidation in Type 1 Diabetes Rat Model

BackgroundHypoglycemic effects of grapefruit juice are well known but the effects of naringin, its main flavonoid on glucose intolerance and metabolic complications in type 1 diabetes are not known.ObjectivesTo investigate the effects of naringin on glucose intolerance, oxidative stress and ketonemia in type 1 diabetic rats.MethodsSprague-Dawley rats divided into 5 groups (n = 7) were orally treated daily with 3.0 ml/kg body weight (BW)/day of distilled water (group 1) or 50 mg/kg BW of naringin (groups 2 and 4, respectively). Groups 3, 4 and 5 were given a single intra-peritoneal injection of 60 mg/kg BW of streptozotocin to induce diabetes. Group 3 was further treated with subcutaneous insulin (4.0 IU/kg BW) twice daily, respectively.ResultsStretozotocin (STZ) only-treated groups exhibited hyperglycemia, polydipsia, polyuria, weight loss, glucose intolerance, low fasting plasma insulin and reduced hepatic glycogen content compared to the control group. Furthermore they had significantly elevated Malondialdehyde (MDA), acetoacetate, β-hydroxybutyrate, anion gap and significantly reduced blood pH and plasma bicarbonate compared to the control group. Naringin treatment significantly improved Fasting Plasma Insulin (FPI), hepatic glycogen content, malondialdehyde, β-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, bicarbonate, blood pH and anion gap but not Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) compared to the STZ only-treated group.ConclusionsNaringin is not hypoglycemic but ameliorates ketoacidosis and oxidative stress. Naringin supplements could therefore mitigate complications of diabetic ketoacidosis.     

High-throughput metabolic screening of microalgae genetic variation in response to nutrient limitation

Metabolomics - Microalgae produce metabolites that could be useful for applications in food, biofuel or fine chemical production. The identification and development of suitable strains require...     

Multimodal spatial representations engaged in human parietal cortex during both saccadic and manual spatial orienting

BACKGROUND: Recent neuroimaging studies have found that several areas of the human brain, including parietal regions, can respond multimodally. But given single-cell evidence that responses in primate parietal cortex can be motor-related, some of the human multimodal activations might reflect convergent activation of potentially motor-related areas, rather than multimodal representations of space independent of motor factors. Here we crossed sensory stimulation of different modalities (vision or touch, in left or right hemifield) with spatially directed responses to such stimulation by different effector-systems (saccadic or manual). RESULTS: The fMRI results revealed representations of contralateral space in both the posterior part of the superior parietal gyrus and the anterior intraparietal sulcus that activated independently of both sensory modality and motor response. Multimodal saccade-related or manual-related activations were found, by contrast, in different regions of parietal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: Whereas some parietal regions have specific motor functions, others are engaged during the execution of movements to the contralateral hemifield irrespective of both input modality and the type of motor effector.     

Helper T-cell-regulated B-cell immunity

Helper T-cell-regulated B-cell responses constitute a major component of the immune response to many pathogens. Spatially and temporally organized cognate intercellular communication within secondary lymphoid organs is the critical regulating event in this complex adaptive response to antigen. Here, we discuss what is known of these molecular exchanges and their cellular consequences in a serial synapsis model of adaptive immunity.     

The acute impact of continuous positive airway pressure on nasal resistance: a randomized controlled comparison.

Subjective nasal obstruction is common among users of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). The aim of this study was to measure the acute effect of CPAP on nasal resistance and nasal symptoms in awake normal subjects. Twenty-four healthy CPAP-naive adults [8 men, 16 women; mean age 30 yr (SD 14)] underwent a randomized controlled crossover study comparing nasal CPAP (8 cmH(2)O) for 6 h on one occasion and the control condition (nasal mask without CPAP) on the other. Nasal resistance measurements (posterior active rhinometry) before and after the test exposure were similar on both test days. Nasal resistance during CPAP exposure [2.04 cmH(2)O.l(-1).s (SD 0.72)] was significantly lower than that of the control [2.67 cmH(2)O.l(-1).s (SD 1.07)]: mean difference 0.66 cmH(2)O.l(-1).s, 95% confidence interval 0.19-1.13 cmH(2)O.l(-1).s. The gradient in pressure from CPAP mask to posterior naris during CPAP exposure varied from 1.6 to 2 cmH(2)O but was not significantly different between time points. Subjective nasal symptom scores and peak nasal inspiratory flow rates did not change significantly on either test day. We conclude that in awake CPAP-naive normal subjects, acute CPAP exposure is associated with a reduction in nasal resistance compared with the control condition, but it is not associated with an immediate post-CPAP change in subjective or objective nasal resistance.