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There has been considerable effort to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed (SMART) targets to halt the decline in the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef from diffuse sources. Less attention has focused on the assessment of collaborative delivery options needed to meet these targets. This article adapts the SMART criteria to assess partnership needs to deliver voluntary water quality management programs proposed in Queensland's Tully-Murray Water Quality Improvement Plan. This formative assessment enabled us to guide agricultural industry and local government sector focus group discussions. These discussions helped to determine if institutional arrangements adequately considered the specific purpose of proposed management activities, if measures of' delivery success were compatible among collaborators, and (f delivery costs were fairly distributed and achievable. The assessment also exposed the relevance of proposed management programs to each partner's activities and agendas, and how temporal attributes of partnership design and purpose could maximise the benefits of proposed actions. We suggest that the Jkamework can help other practitioners and researchers to assess systematically how partnerships can be adaptively designed to 'fit' the objectives of integrated water quality management plans. Keywords: integrated water planning, decision analysis, adaptive management, institutional collaboration

Rates of nitrogen fixation in seagrass beds ( Zostera capricorni) were determined withN and reduction of acetylene in intact cores of sediment and seagrass. There was good agreement in the results from the two techniques, with a molar ratio of 3∶1.9 ethylene: ammonia produced. Fixed nitrogen was rapidly utilized by the plants, with significant amounts ofN found in the roots and rhizomes and 50% of fixedN apparently translocated to the leaves. Rates of fixation were high in summer (25 to 40 mg N m day) and lower in winter (10 mg N m day) and were estimated to supply between one-third and one-half of the nitrogen requirements of the seagrass. Rates of nitrogen fixation were greater in the light than in the dark, and in cores of intact seagrass than in defoliated cores, indicating that the bacteria were dependent on organic compounds secreted by the plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current international context, the development of industrial technology that will allow the production of agro-fuels from lignocellulosic biomass is becoming ever more important for society. However, despite over thirty years of research, several hurdles still have to be surmounted before the first industrial facilities begin to produce ethanol. Nevertheless, thanks to its ability to generate innovative, clean and sustainable solutions for industry, biotechnology is now well-poised to provide new solutions aimed at the full exploitation of biomass resources, not only to make fuels, but also a wide range of fine chemicals and products that are required by modern society.

Abstract Background Improving the hydrolytic performance of hemicellulases on lignocellulosic biomass is of considerable importance for second-generation biorefining. To address this problem, and also to gain greater understanding of structure-function relationships, especially related to xylanase action on complex biomass, we have implemented a combinatorial strategy to engineer the GH11 xylanase from Thermobacillus xylanilyticus (Tx-Xyn). Results Following in vitro enzyme evolution and screening on wheat straw, nine best-performing clones were identified, which display mutations at positions 3, 6, 27 and 111. All of these mutants showed increased hydrolytic activity on wheat straw, and solubilized arabinoxylans that were not modified by the parental enzyme. The most active mutants, S27T and Y111T, increased the solubilization of arabinoxylans from depleted wheat straw 2.3-fold and 2.1-fold, respectively, in comparison to the wild-type enzyme. In addition, five mutants, S27T, Y111H, Y111S, Y111T and S27T-Y111H increased total hemicellulose conversion of intact wheat straw from 16.7%tot. xyl (wild-type Tx-Xyn) to 18.6% to 20.4%tot. xyl. Also, all five mutant enzymes exhibited a better ability to act in synergy with a cellulase cocktail (Accellerase 1500), thus procuring increases in overall wheat straw hydrolysis. Conclusions Analysis of the results allows us to hypothesize that the increased hydrolytic ability of the mutants is linked to (i) improved ligand binding in a putative secondary binding site, (ii) the diminution of surface hydrophobicity, and/or (iii) the modification of thumb flexibility, induced by mutations at position 111. Nevertheless, the relatively modest improvements that were observed also underline the fact that enzyme engineering alone cannot overcome the limits imposed by the complex organization of the plant cell wall and the lignin barrier.

Increased nitrogen loading has been implicated in eutrophication occurrences worldwide. Much of this loading is attributable to the growing human population along the world's coastlines. A significant component of this nitrogen input is from sewage effluent, and delineation of the distribution and biological impact of sewage-derived nitrogen is becoming increasingly important. Here, we show a technique that identifies the source, extent and fate of biologically available sewagenitrogen in coastal marine ecosystems. This method is based on the uptake of sewage nitrogen by marine plants and subsequent analysis of the sewage signature (elevated Delta15N) in plant tissues.Spatial analysis is used to create maps of Delta15N and establish coefficient of variation estimates of the mapped values. We show elevated Delta15N levels in marine plants near sewageoutfalls in Moreton Bay, Australia, a semi-enclosed bay receiving multiple sewage inputs. These maps of sewage nitrogen distribution are being used to direct nutrient reduction strategies in the region and will assist in monitoring the effectiveness of environmental protection measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transferrin, a central player in iron transport, has been recognized not only for its role in binding iron but also for its interaction with other metals, including titanium. This study employs solid-state nanopores to investigate the binding of titanium ions [Ti(IV)] to transferrin in a single-molecule and label-free manner. We demonstrate the novel application of solid-state nanopores for single-molecule discrimination between apo-transferrin (metal-free) and Ti(IV)-transferrin. Despite their similar sizes, Ti(IV)-transferrin exhibits a reduced current drop, attributed to differences in translocation times and filter characteristics. Single-molecule analysis reveals Ti(IV)-transferrin's enhanced stability and faster translocations due to its distinct conformational flexibility compared to apo-transferrin. Furthermore, our study showcases solid-state nanopores as real-time monitors of biochemical reactions, tracking the gradual conversion of apo-transferrin to Ti(IV)-transferrin upon the addition of titanium citrate. This work offers insights into Ti(IV) binding to transferrin, promising applications for single-molecule analysis and expanding our comprehension of metal-protein interactions at the molecular level., (© 2024 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)

There is great scientific and public interest in claims that musical training improves general cognitive and perceptual abilities. While this is controversial, recent and rather convincing evidence suggests that musical training refines the temporal integration of auditory and visual stimuli at a general level. We investigated whether musical training also affects integration in the spatial domain, via an auditory localisation experiment that measured ventriloquism (where localisation is biased towards visual stimuli on audiovisual trials) and recalibration (a unimodal localisation aftereffect). While musicians (n = 22) and non-musicians (n = 22) did not have significantly different unimodal precision or accuracy, musicians were significantly less susceptible than non-musicians to ventriloquism, with large effect sizes. We replicated these results in another experiment with an independent sample of 24 musicians and 21 non-musicians. Across both experiments, spatial recalibration did not significantly differ between the groups even though musicians resisted ventriloquism. Our results suggest that the multisensory expertise afforded by musical training refines spatial integration, a process that underpins multisensory perception., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)