Search

FOR DECADES, I have clipped my paddle in the black water of one of our nation's crown jewels, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge near Folkston, Georgia. It is relatively rare [...]

Students making the transition from high school to university often encounter many stressors and new experiences. Many students adjust successfully to university; however, some students do not, often resulting in attrition from the university and mental health issues. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the effects that optimism, self-efficacy, depression, and anxiety have on an individual's life stress and adaptation to university. Eighty-four first-year, full-time students from the Queensland University of Technology (60 female, 24 male) who had entered university straight from high school completed the study. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing their levels of optimism, self-efficacy, depression, anxiety, perceived level of life stress and adaptation to university. In line with predictions, results showed that optimism, depression, and anxiety each had a significant relationship with students' perceived level of stress. Furthermore, self-efficacy and depression had a significant relationship with adaptation to university. We conclude that students with high levels of optimism and low levels of depression and anxiety will adapt better when making the transition from high school to university. In addition, students with high levels of self-efficacy and low levels of depression will experience less life stress in their commencement year of university. The implications of this study are outlined.

In the first 27 years of the Central Australian Laboratory (CAL), to 1980, research focussed almost entirely on the needs of the pastoral industry. By the 1980s, ongoing campaigns for Aboriginal land rights and demands to conserve biodiversity plainly showed that there were other land uses deserving research attention. Initially CAL's research agenda expanded to include conservation in spinifex grasslands and grazing lands but remained biophysical in nature. It subsequently became clear that people's roles in decision-making about land use and management should be part of research. By the 2000s, scientists were able to build trusting relationships with Aboriginal people and organisations and undertake collaborative studies to improve livelihoods and wellbeing on country. Over the 38 years from 1980 to 2018, CAL's research activities responded to diverse societal expectations but it was not enough to prevent the laboratory's eventual closure as public investment in rangelands dwindled. The changing nature of research at CSIRO's Central Australian Laboratory over many decades reflected major shifts in societal expectations, the availability of new knowledge and enabling technologies and the particular skills of its staff. This paper follows the expansion of research from a pastoral focus into, initially, conservation and later into socio-ecological systems and Aboriginal livelihoods. Despite the relevance of the research to participating rangeland communities, the power of remote centralised decision-making led to the slow demise of the laboratory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CSIRO's research in the arid zone was initiated after World War 2 when a strong push to develop the sparsely populated and isolated region of northern Australia was promoted as being in the national interest. This impetus had social and political origins but implementation depended on scientific insights into regional 'potential', which was couched at the time in terms of agronomic and pastoral use. Ray Perry was a key figure in early land resource surveys of the region and later a key motivator for, and supporter of, research in the arid and semi-arid rangelands of Australia. His commitment was fundamental to the establishment of CSIRO's Central Australian Laboratory. Pastoral land use and improving the land for that purpose were the primary concerns when CSIRO's presence in Alice Springs was established in 1953. From an initial focus on 'making the desert bloom', in particular making the vast spinifex grasslands more 'useful', the focus of research shifted to maintaining the productivity of country preferred by cattle and establishing methods for monitoring its health. It was not until the 1970s that Aboriginal and conservation land management appeared in the laboratory's research agenda, somewhat intermittently, in response to important social and political changes in the wider Australian community. When CSIRO's Arid Zone Unit was established in Alice Springs in 1953, the social and political imperative was to develop Australia's north and, more specifically, to make the vast interior more productive for pastoral and agronomic purposes. The research that followed showed the unreality of that goal and the need to nurture the land that cattle preferred to graze. Not until the 1970s were other values for land, such as Aboriginal and conservation uses, considered to be subjects for research, stimulated by social and political change in the wider Australian community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen peroxide is a reactive oxygen species that is implicated in a number of neurological disease states and that serves a critical role in normal cell function. It is commonly exploited as a reporter molecule enabling the electrochemical detection of nonelectroactive molecules at electrodes modified with substrate-specific oxidative enzymes. We present the first voltammetric characterization of rapid hydrogen peroxide fluctuations at an uncoated carbon fiber microelectrode, demonstrating unprecedented chemical and spatial resolution. The carbon surface was electrochemically conditioned on the anodic scan and the irreversible oxidation of peroxide was detected on the cathodic scan. The oxidation potential was dependent on scan rate, occurring at + 1.2 V versus Ag/AgCl at a scan rate of 400 V.s 1. The relationship between peak oxidation current and concentration was linear across the physiological range tested, with deviation from linearity above 2 mM and a detection limit of 2 pM. Peroxide was distinguished from multiple interferents, both in vitro and in brain slices. The enzymatic degradation of peroxide was monitored, as was peroxide evolution in response to glucose at a glucose oxidase modified carbon fiber electrode. This novel approach provides the requisite sensitivity, selectivity, spatial and temporal resolution to study dynamic peroxide fluctuations in discrete biological locations. 10.1021/ac100536s

An outbreak of cryptosporidiosis occurred in and around Clitheroe, Lancashire, in northwest England, during March 2000. Fifty-eight cases of diarrhea with Cryptosporidium identified in stool specimens were reported. Cryptospondium oocysts [...]

Bird assemblages in arid Australia are often characterized as being highly variable through time in response to boom and bust dynamics, although the importance of habitat in structuring assemblages at a local‐scale is also recognized. We use a novel approach to investigate the importance of rainfall variability in structuring bird assemblages in a resource‐limited environment. Monthly bird surveys were conducted at ten plots for 8 years at a botanical and zoological park in central Australia, including five irrigated plots within a fenced area and five natural plots outside. Irrigation—used to promote growth, flowering, and fruiting of plants—created an artificial resource‐enhanced environment against which the response of birds to natural fluctuations in season and rainfall were compared. Species richness was generally maintained at a higher level in resource‐enhanced plots during dry times but was higher in natural plots when rainfall was high, mainly due to increases in granivores and insectivores. Honeyeaters were consistently more abundant at irrigated plots. Rainfall was important in structuring bird assemblages at all plots; however, assemblages were more stable in irrigated plots and did not respond as dramatically to a period of very high rainfall. The comparative smoothing of fluctuations in the composition and abundance of birds in irrigated areas highlights the importance of primary productivity, normally tied to rainfall, in driving temporal change in arid‐zone bird communities. There was also evidence that different plots in differing habitats supported distinct bird assemblages and that this spatial distinctiveness persisted irrespective of rainfall and determined, to some extent, the response to rainfall. Our study is one of few long‐term studies of arid bird assemblages and highlights the importance of both long‐term cycles of productivity driven by rain and season as well as site differences in the dynamics of arid‐zone bird communities. These insights are particularly valuable as climate change further exacerbates rainfall variability worldwide and initiatives to conserve avifauna in increasingly extreme environments may be required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insectivorous bats make a significant contribution to mammalian diversity in central Australia, with 12 known extant species; however, little is known about their habitat preferences and how these interact with temporal patterns in their abundance and activity. Although most species forage widely and in a variety of habitats, we expected that woodlands associated with ephemeral rivers would constitute high-value habitat for bats because they provide tree hollows, suitable structural habitat for foraging, and canopies rich in invertebrate biomass. The aim of this research was to establish whether riparian woodlands were a focus of bat activity and to identify patterns in habitat use and whether these changed through time. We investigated the activity of bats in riparian woodlands and neighbouring vegetation over 2 years. Bat activity was higher in riparian woodland than in nearby vegetation, and this difference was most significant during a hot and dry summer. At the species level, body size and foraging guild were important factors explaining differences in activity, with larger 'open space' species more active in riparian woodland than adjacent habitat. In contrast, we did not detect significant differences in the activity of smaller vespertilionid species between habitats. Coinciding with patterns in invertebrate activity, bat activity was highest in summer and lowest in winter. Within river channels, canopy cover was important in explaining patterns in bat activity. There was also a significant location effect, with bat activity in some river systems much higher than in others. We propose that this is related to both regional variability in rainfall and productivity, in addition to topography. Our findings demonstrate the importance of riparian woodlands to bats in an arid environment, particularly during low-resource periods, and suggest that bats may be affected by future climate changes and degradation from fire impacts. Insectivorous bats make a significant contribution to mammalian diversity in central Australia, with 12 known extant species, yet little is known about their habitat preferences and how these interact with temporal patterns in their abundance and activity. We found that bat activity was higher in arid riparian woodland than in nearby vegetation, and this difference was most significant during a hot and dry summer. Our findings demonstrate the importance of riparian woodlands to bats in an arid environment, particularly during low-resource periods [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

River red gum woodlands associated with ephemeral river channels in arid Australia are recognised as important habitat for a suite of bird species, due to their distinctive structure, large canopies and abundant tree hollows. We tested the proposition that river red gum woodlands harbour a distinctive bird assemblage that is relatively stable through time. We examined patterns of bird composition between habitats (riparian woodland versus neighbouring habitat) over multiple years (from 2016 to 2018) and locations (three catchments), and we assessed these patterns in the context of variable food resource availability. Assemblages in river red gum woodlands differed from those of adjacent vegetation, despite strong temporal variability caused by arrival of nomadic species in both habitat types following above‐average rainfall. Species richness was reduced in the drier periods, yet bird assemblages in river red gum woodlands retained their distinctiveness from adjacent habitat. Flowering and fruiting of shrubs and trees were largely stimulated by rainfall; in contrast, invertebrate abundance was driven more by temperature and was higher in river red gum woodlands. Our data did not imply that river red gum woodland acted as a refuge in drier times for species from neighbouring habitat. Our study supports the hypothesis that arid bird community composition is influenced more by habitat than by temporal resource variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Forty-three out of 53 of the WHO European Member States have set up political and institutional mechanisms to implement the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This includes governance and institutional mechanisms, engaging stakeholders, identifying targets and indicators, setting governmental and sectoral priorities for action and reporting progress regularly. Still, growing evidence suggests that there is room for advancing implementation of some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets at a higher pace in the WHO European Region. This article proposes the E4A approach to support WHO European Member States in their efforts to achieve the health-related SDG targets. Methods The E4A approach was developed through a 2-year, multi-stage process, starting with the endorsement of the SDG Roadmap by all WHO European Member States in 2017. This approach resulted from a mix of qualitative methods: a semi-structured desk review of existing committal documents and tools; in-country policy dialogs, interviews and reports; joint UN missions and discussion among multi-lateral organizations; consultation with an advisory group of academics and health policy experts across countries. Results The E—engage—functions as the driver and pace-maker; the 4 As—assess, align, accelerate and account—serve as building blocks composed of policies, processes, activities and interventions operating in continuous and synchronized action. Each of the building blocks is an essential part of the approach that can be applied across geographic and institutional levels. Conclusion While the E4A approach is being finalized, this article aims to generate debate and input to further refine and test this approach from a public health and user perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canadian multiculturalism, as the Canadian critic Smaro Kamboureli observes in the preface to her 1996 anthology Making a Difference, is not a recent phenomenon, since early colonial settlements included Black [...]

Up to 37 species of the birds and microbats inhabiting inland Australia are dependent on tree cavities for breeding or roosting. The river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), a well‐known hollow‐bearing tree species, occurs in linear semi‐arid woodland along thousands of kilometres of ephemeral river channels and is the only tree species that provides widespread, aggregated hollow resources across a landscape otherwise dominated by shrublands. Here we assess the type and quantity of hollows available along ephemeral rivers of the MacDonnell Ranges bioregion in central Australia and determine which characteristics of river red gums best predict the abundance and characteristics of different tree hollows, as first steps towards assessing the current availability of hollows in the region. Approximately a third of all river red gums sampled were hollow‐bearing, but individual trees with abundant hollows were rare. Further, 36% of hollows had an entrance ≤ 5 cm, and 37% had entrances which were 6–10 cm in diameter, whereas only 13% of hollows had an entrance diameter > 20 cm suitable for larger hollow‐using species. Large and high hollows only occurred on trees that did not display post‐disturbance resprouting. Trees with multiple and diverse hollows were rare and tended to be in advanced stages of senescence and had larger stems (82.3 ± 3.33 cm) and were taller (14.4 ± 0.53 m) compared to non‐hollow‐bearing trees (23.44 ± 1.68 cm, 8.0 ± 0.34 m). Further research is required to establish whether the current abundance of hollows and diversity of hollow types are limiting to cavity‐dependent wildlife, and to identify any threats to availability of hollows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In what ways has the contemporary British novel served to contribute to the ethos of secular liberalism that underpins the ideology of the colonial present before and after the “War on Terror”? This article seeks to address this question through a rereading of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses and its critical reception. Beginning with a discussion of the secularism/theology binary in Roland Barthes’ essay “The Death of the Author”, the paper considers how the ideology of secularism that Barthes attributes to the birth of the reader has shaped and influenced the public understanding of the Rushdie affair before and after 9/11. With close reference to Rushdie’s memoir, Joseph Anton, the essay proceeds to address how Rushdie’s own account of the production and reception of The Satanic Verses in Joseph Anton might be regarded as a particular form of secular misreading that calls the authority of the book’s implied author into question. By addressing questions such as these, this article suggests that Rushdie’s literary reworking of Islamic history in The Satanic Verses and his defence of this reworking in Joseph Anton demand a rethinking of the relationship between the ideology of secularism and postmodern theories of reading. Such a rethinking, I suggest, also demands a consideration of the ways in which the contemporary figure of the emancipated reader is implicated in the secularist ideology of the colonial present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective treatment for glioblastoma (GBM) is limited by the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and rapid resistance to single agent therapies. To address these issues, we developed a transferrin-functionalized nanoparticle (Tf-NP) that can deliver dual combination therapies. Using intravital imaging, we show the ability of Tf-NPs to traverse intact BBB in mice as well as achieve direct tumor binding in two intracranial orthotopic models of GBM. Treatment of tumor-bearing mice with Tf-NPs loaded with temozolomide and the bromodomain inhibitor JQ1 leads to increased DNA damage and apoptosis that correlates with a 1.5- to 2-fold decrease in tumor burden and corresponding increase in survival compared to equivalent free-drug dosing. Immunocompetent mice treated with Tf-NP-loaded drugs also show protection from the effects of systemic drug toxicity, demonstrating the preclinical potential of this nanoscale platform to deliver novel combination therapies to gliomas and other central nervous system tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In The Accumulation of Capital (1913), Rosa Luxemburg offers a sophisticated account of the foundational role of colonialism in the development and expansion of the capitalist world system. By interrogating the blind spots in Marx's account of capitalist political economy, Luxemburg emphasises the importance of 'non-capitalist strata and countries' in the production of surplus value. Crucial to Luxemburg's re-thinking of capitalist political economy, in other words, was the accumulation and dispossession of non-capitalist societies on the periphery of the world economy. Beginning with an assessment of Luxemburg's central thesis in The Accumulation of Capital, this article proceeds to suggest that Luxemburg's analysis of imperialism has important and far-reaching consequences for understanding contemporary formations of capital accumulation and debt colonialism in the postcolonial world. What's more, Luxemburg's reflections on primitive communism and the challenge this posed to the universalising historical narrative of bourgeois political economy offer an important counterpoint to the predominant conceptualisation of the world as an abstract space for the uneven and unequal circulation of capital and commodities. By reading Luxemburg's writings on primitive communism against the grain of her writings on imperialism and debt colonialism in The Accumulation of Capital, I suggest in conclusion that Luxemburg's writing offers a valuable contribution to contemporary accounts of the commons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most striking legacies of the Subaltern Studies project has been the innovative methodologies and archives that it has mobilized to articulate the singular position of the subaltern outside the hegemonic terms of representation. Yet in its sweeping classification of non-hegemonic social groups and classes, Subaltern Studies has often tended to elide the precise economic determinants that define the subaltern as a class, and thereby foreclose the forms of agency that are available to people who occupy such singular positions of radical alterity that cannot be identified in hegemonic terms. Spivak’s deconstructive rethinking of the labour theory of value enables us to consider how the body of the gendered subaltern performs an important economic function in the contemporary global economy. But to what extent can such a theory account for the economic conditions of people dwelling in the slums and shantytowns of postcolonial cities, or what Michael Denning has aptly called the wageless life of the global poor? And how might we begin to address the gendered dynamics of wageless life? Through a reading of Abderrahmane Sissako’s filmBamako(2006), this essay considers how the film’s juxtaposition of a fictional courtroom narrative in which the World Bank is put on trial and the everyday lives of characters who populate the courtyard in which the courtroom is situated raise questions about the limitations of the law and civil society to alter the socio-economic conditions of wageless life. With reference to Gayatri Spivak’s reflections on the relationship between the subaltern and the economic policies of global financial institutions the essay suggests that the narrative structure andmise-en-scèneofBamakooffer a means of addressing the global economic conditions as well as the power relations that circumscribe the agency and voice of the subaltern. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the 2000s, The Journal of Commonwealth Literature (JCL) continued to provide a forum for the expansion, layering and critical self-examination of the transnational Anglophone literary/cultural and scholarly fields. During this period of expansion and growth JCL participated in the formation of an emergent postcolonial canon in which certain authors and texts have served to function as tropes for a certain idea of nations and regions in the postcolonial world. This article tracks those tendencies through a critical assessment of a range of exemplary essays, editorials, and surveys published in the journal during this decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We report a widespread foodborne outbreak of Cryptosporidium parvum in England and Scotland in May 2012. Cases were more common in female adults, and had no history of foreign travel. Over 300 excess cases were identified during the period of the outbreak. Speciation and microbiological typing revealed the outbreak strain to be C. parvum gp60 subtype IIaA15G2R1. Methods: Hypothesis generation questionnaires were administered and an unmatched case control study was undertaken to test the hypotheses raised. Cases and controls were interviewed by telephone. Controls were selected using sequential digit dialling. Information was gathered on demographics, foods consumed and retailers where foods were purchased. Results: Seventy-four laboratory confirmed cases and 74 controls were included in analyses. Infection was found to be strongly associated with the consumption of pre-cut mixed salad leaves sold by a single retailer. This is the largest documented outbreak of cryptosporidiosis attributed to a food vehicle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how the sovereignty of the Indian government over Kashmir is asserted and contested around the Line of Control, and the military checkpoints that visualize such forms of sovereignty. Beginning with a discussion of the ways in which the Government of India’s Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Public Safety Act provide a paralegal context for extrajudicial killings and torture, the article proceeds to consider how recent literary and cultural representations of Kashmir such as Naseer Ahmed and Saurabh Singh’sKashmir Pending, Bhasharat Peer’sCurfewed Night, Mirza Waheed’s novelThe Collaboratorand Salman Rushdie’sShalimar the Clownnot only document the crossing of the Line of Control by so-called insurgents, but also raise questions about the violence of state sovereignty by mourning the lives and deaths of those who dare to challenge the Indian state’s spatial performance of sovereignty. In so doing, the paper suggests that postcolonial narratives of mourning offer an important counterpoint to the necropolitical logic of India’s performance of sovereignty over Kashmir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]