Root imaging showing comparisons in root distribution and ontogeny in novel Festulolium populations and closely related perennial ryegrass varieties.

The incorporation of new sophisticated phenotyping technologies within a crop improvement program allows for a plant breeding strategy that can include selections for major root traits previously inaccessible due to the challenges in their phenotype assessment. High-throughput precision phenotyping technology is employed to evaluate root ontogeny and progressive changes to root architecture of both novel amphiploid and introgression lines of Festulolium over four consecutive months of the growing season and these compared under the same time frame to that of closely related perennial ryegrass (L. perenne) varieties. Root imaging using conventional photography and assembled multiple merged images was used to compare frequencies in root number, their distribution within 0-20 and 20-40 cm depths within soil columns, and progressive changes over time. The Festulolium hybrids had more extensive root systems in comparison with L. perenne, and this was especially evident at depth. It was shown that the acquisition of extensive root systems in Festulolium hybrids was not dependent on the presence of an entire Festuca genome. On the contrary, the most pronounced effect on root development within the four Festulolium populations studied was observed in the introgression line Bx509, where a single small genome sequence from F. arundinacea had been previously transferred onto its homoeologous site on the long arm of chromosome 3 of an otherwise complete L. perenne genome. This demonstrates that a targeted introgression-breeding approach may be sufficient to confer a significant improvement in the root morphology in Lolium without a significant compromise to its genome integrity. The forage production of Bx509 was either higher (months 1-3) or equivalent to (month 4) that of its L. perenne parent control demonstrating that the enhanced root development achieved by the introgression line was without compromise to its agronomic performance.

High rates of sexually transmissible infections in HIV-positive patients in the Australian HIV Observational Database: a prospective cohort study.

UNLABELLED: Background In HIV-positive people, sexually transmissible infections (STIs) probably increase the infectiousness of HIV. METHODS: In 2010, we established a cohort of individuals (n=554) from clinics in the Australian HIV Observational Database (AHOD). We calculated retrospective rates for four STIs for 2005-10 and prospective incidence rates for 2010-11. RESULTS: At baseline (2010), patient characteristics were similar to the rest of AHOD. Overall incidence was 12.5 per 100 person-years. Chlamydial infections increased from 3.4 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.9-5.7) in 2005 to 6.7 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 4.5-9.5) in 2011, peaking in 2010 (8.1 per 100 person-years; 95% CI: 5.6-11.2). Cases were distributed among rectal (61.9%), urethral (34%) and pharyngeal (6.3%) sites. Gonococcal infections increased, peaking in 2010 (4.7 per 100 person-years; 95% CI: 5.6-11.2; Ptrend=0.0099), distributed among rectal (63.9%), urethral (27.9%) and pharyngeal (14.8%) sites. Syphilis showed several peaks, the largest in 2008 (5.3 per 100 person-years; 95% CI: 3.3-8.0); the overall trend was not significant (P=0.113). Genital warts declined from 7.5 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 4.8-11.3) in 2005 to 2.4 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 1.1-4.5) in 2011 (Ptrend=0.0016). CONCLUSIONS: For chlamydial and gonococcal infections, incidence was higher than previous Australian estimates among HIV-infected men who have sex with men, increasing during 2005-2011. Rectal infections outnumbered infections at other sites. Syphilis incidence remained high but did not increase; that of genital warts was lower and decreased.

Using boreholes as windows into groundwater ecosystems.

Groundwater ecosystems remain poorly understood yet may provide ecosystem services, make a unique contribution to biodiversity and contain useful bio-indicators of water quality. Little is known about ecosystem variability, the distribution of invertebrates within aquifers, or how representative boreholes are of aquifers. We addressed these issues using borehole imaging and single borehole dilution tests to identify three potential aquifer habitats (fractures, fissures or conduits) intercepted by two Chalk boreholes at different depths beneath the surface (34 to 98 m). These habitats were characterised by sampling the invertebrates, microbiology and hydrochemistry using a packer system to isolate them. Samples were taken with progressively increasing pumped volume to assess differences between borehole and aquifer communities. The study provides a new conceptual framework to infer the origin of water, invertebrates and microbes sampled from boreholes. It demonstrates that pumping 5 m(3) at 0.4-1.8 l/sec was sufficient to entrain invertebrates from five to tens of metres into the aquifer during these packer tests. Invertebrates and bacteria were more abundant in the boreholes than in the aquifer, with associated water chemistry variations indicating that boreholes act as sites of enhanced biogeochemical cycling. There was some variability in invertebrate abundance and bacterial community structure between habitats, indicating ecological heterogeneity within the aquifer. However, invertebrates were captured in all aquifer samples, and bacterial abundance, major ion chemistry and dissolved oxygen remained similar. Therefore the study demonstrates that in the Chalk, ecosystems comprising bacteria and invertebrates extend from around the water table to 70 m below it. Hydrogeological techniques provide excellent scope for tackling outstanding questions in groundwater ecology, provided an appropriate conceptual hydrogeological understanding is applied.

What proportion of sexually transmissible infections and HIV are diagnosed in New South Wales' public sexual health services compared with other services?

BACKGROUND: In New South Wales (NSW), publicly funded sexual health services (PFSHSs) target the populations at greatest risk for important sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and so may make a large contribution to the diagnosis of notifiable STIs. We aimed to determine the proportions of STIs diagnosed in PFSHSs and notified to the NSW Ministry of Health in 2009, and describe geographical variations. METHODS: The number of notifiable STIs (infectious syphilis, gonorrhoea, HIV and chlamydia) diagnosed in 2009 was obtained for each Area Health Service (AHS) and each PFSHS. The proportion of diagnoses made by PFSHSs was calculated at the state and AHS level according to five geographical regions: inner and outer metropolitan, regional, rural and remote. RESULTS: The overall proportions of diagnoses made by NSW PFSHSs were syphilis, 25%; gonorrhoea, 25%; HIV, 21%; and chlamydia, 14%. Within each zone, the proportions of these STIs were (respectively): (i) inner metropolitan: 32%, 26%, 21% and 13%; (ii) outer metropolitan: 41%, 24%, 43% and 9%; (iii) regional: 62%, 15%, 23% and 10%; (iv) rural: 8%, 29%, <5% and 20%; and (v) remote: <5%, 43%, <5% and 29%. There was considerable variation in proportions of STIs between and within AHSs (<5-100%). CONCLUSIONS: NSW PFSHSs contribute a large proportion of diagnoses for syphilis, gonorrhoea and HIV, but less so for chlamydia. Across AHSs and zones, there was considerable variation in the proportions. These data support the role of PFSHS in identifying and managing important STIs in high-risk populations.

Functional analysis and functional communication training in individuals with Angelman syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the functions of challenging behaviour in four children with Angelman syndrome (AS) and to study the effects of functional communication training (FCT) with precursor-based prompting. This study builds on and extends the study of Allen et al. METHOD: Experimental functional analysis assessed behavioural functions. FCT was implemented within an ABAB design and effect sizes were calculated. Burst analyses depict tendencies in (precursor) behaviours surrounding target behaviours. RESULTS: Results show challenging behaviour to be aimed at receiving attention, tangibles or escape. Burst analysis designated physical and eye contact and reaching for tangibles as precursors. Effects of FCT ranged from small to large. CONCLUSION: Behavioural functions for challenging behaviour were found and FCT was effective in reducing its frequency, when precursors were used as the onset of prompting. Functional equivalence between challenging and communicative behaviour was found. Implementing treatment for challenging behaviour based on precursors is advised.

Relationship among challenging, repetitive, and communicative behaviors in children with severe intellectual disabilities.

We used experimental and descriptive functional analyses and lag sequential analyses to examine the functional and temporal relationship among the self-injurious (SIB), potentially injurious, repetitive, challenging, and pragmatic communicative behaviors of 6 children with intellectual disabilities. Functional analyses revealed social function for SIB, potentially injurious, and repetitive behaviors across 5, 4, and 5 participants, respectively. Sixteen functionally equivalent response classes were identified across participants using both experimental and naturalistic observation data. Repetitive, potentially injurious, and SIB behaviors were significantly temporally associated, and pragmatic communicative behaviors were strongly temporally associated with challenging behaviors. The importance of the temporal and functional relationship between imperative communicative acts and challenging behavior is discussed.

Experimental functional analysis of aggression in children with Angelman syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Kinship theory suggests that genomic imprinting could account for phenotypic behaviors that increase (in the case of Angelman syndrome) or decrease (for Prader-Willi syndrome) the drive to access social resources (adult contact) depending on the imprinting parent-of-origin. Difficult to manage behaviors, such as aggression that is common in Angelman syndrome, could serve the function of increasing social interaction. We hypothesise that the commonly reported aggressive behavior in children with Angelman syndrome will be attention maintained. METHODS: Experimental functional analysis was carried out with twelve children with Angelman syndrome caused by either a deletion (n=10) or uniparental disomy (n=2). The relative increase and decrease of aggressive behaviors was observed in response to experimentally manipulated levels of adult attention and demand. Laughing and smiling, crying and frowning, and physical initiation with an adult were also measured. RESULTS: Aggression was seen in ten of the twelve children. One child evidenced a pattern of aggression across conditions consistent with maintenance by attention, three children showed higher levels of aggression during social interaction and two children showed escape motivated aggression. DISCUSSION: With the exception of one child the results did not confirm the hypothesis. However, the pattern of increased aggression in the high social contact condition combined with evidence of positive affect during this condition suggests aggression may serve to both maintain and initiate social contact and this interpretation is consistent with previous research. The negative results may also have been influenced by the age of the children and the low levels of observed aggression.

Tab2, a novel recombinant polypeptide tag offering sensitive and specific protein detection and reliable affinity purification.

The detection and purification of proteins are often time-consuming and frequently involve complicated protocols. The addition of a peptide tag to recombinant proteins can make this process more efficient. Many of the commonly used tags, such as Flagtrade mark, Myc, HA and V5 are recognized by specific monoclonal antibodies and therefore, allow immunoaffinity-based purification. Enhancing the current scope of flexibility in using diverse peptide tags, we report here the development of a novel, short polypeptide tag (Tab2) for detection and purification of recombinant proteins. The Tab2 epitope corresponds to the NH2-terminal seven amino acid residues of human TGFalpha. A monoclonal anti-Tab2 antibody was raised and characterized. To investigate the potential of this peptide sequence as a novel tag for recombinant proteins, we expressed several different recombinant proteins containing this tag in E. coli, baculovirus, and mammalian cells. The data presented demonstrates the Tab2 tag-anti-Tab2 antibody combination is a reliable tool enabling specific Western blot detection, FACS analysis, and immunoprecipitation as well as non-denaturing protein affinity purification.