Conservation attention on charismatic large vertebrates such as dolphins is often supported by the suggestion that these species represent surrogates for wider biodiversity, or act as indicators of ecosystem health. However, their capacity to act as indicators of patterns or trends in regional biodiversity has rarely been tested. An extensive new dataset of >300 last-sighting records for the Ya...

Ross River virus (RRV) infection is a debilitating disease that has a significant impact on population health, economic productivity, and tourism in Australia. This study examined epidemiologic patterns of RRV disease in Queensland, Australia, during January 2001-December 2011 at a statistical local area level. Spatio-temporal analyses were used to identify the patterns of the disease distribut...

A reassortant, TyRh, was isolated after coinfection of MA104 cells with avian Ty-1 and simian RRV rotaviruses. Hybridization and serological studies showed that the reassortant's 4th gene, which encodes Vp4, was derived from the simian RRV rotavirus parent, whereas the remaining 10 genes were derived from the avian Ty-1 rotavirus parent.

Beat-to-beat variability of the QT interval (QTV) is sought to provide an indirect noninvasive measure of sympathetic nerve activity, but a formal quantification of this relationship has not been provided. In this study we used power contribution analysis to study the relationship between QTV and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA). ECG and MSNA were recorded in 10 healthy subjects in the ...

In support of a large, combined Australia-United States of America military exercise at Shoalwater Bay in south-eastern Queensland during March 1997 (TANDEM THRUST 97), the United States Navy sent the Deployed Public Health Laboratory (DPHL) into the field with the forces. The purpose of this was preventative medicine as well as disease and vector surveillance. Among the numerous potential thre...

Laboratory methods and questionnaires to assess the relative reinforcing value of food (RRV-F) have been developed, but this is the first study to validate an online questionnaire measure of the RRV-F. Participants (281 college students) completed an online survey assessing demographic variables, food preferences, and the RRV-F. A subsample (n=21) also completed a laboratory food choice session...

Ivan Havel remembers when in the late 1970s the Czechoslovakian state police began watching his apartment. For months he had been hosting unofficial science seminars, and the police didn't like it. "It politicized me, says the soft-spoken computer scientist and brother of Czechoslovakian president Vaclav Havel. "The police would check the people who came and ask them to identify 'themselves. Th...

Water quantity and quality joint operation is a new mode in the present dams' operation research. It has become a hot topic in governmental efforts toward integrated basin improvement. This paper coupled a water quantity and quality joint operation model (QCmode) and genetic algorithm with Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Together, these tools were used to explore a reasonable operation o...

Milk is a very important component of human diet. The presence of toxic element in milk may create significant health problems. In this study, metal levels of fresh cow milk were determined. Fresh milk samples were collected from 17 cows grazed around challawa industrial estate, Kano and 9 cows grazed on open fields in Zaria, Kaduna state. Metal levels were determined using Atomic Absorption Sp...