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.
In the last issue of JOE, I stressed to authors the importance of having one's work read before submitting it. In "The Flip Side of Presubmission Reviews," I explore this topic from the reader's ...perspective. In "August JOE Highlights," I note articles that underscore the need for health-related policy, systems, and environmental change interventions and other programming meant to right inequities as well as articles describing innovations Extensionists have applied to various challenges, including those produced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Understanding the processes controlling groundwater/surface-water interaction is essential for effective resource management and for protecting sensitive ecosystems. Through intensive monitoring of ...Chalk groundwater, shallow gravel groundwater and surface water in the River Lambourn, UK, using a combination of hydrochemical and hydrophysical techniques, a complex pattern of interactions has been elucidated. The river is broadly in hydraulic contact with the streambed sediments and adjacent gravels and sands, but these deposits are mainly hydraulically separate from the underlying Chalk at the site. The hydraulic relationship between the river and underlying alluvium is variable, involving components of groundwater flow both parallel and transverse to the river and with both effluent and influent behaviour seen. While the gravel aquifer is significant in controlling groundwater/surface-water interaction, its importance as a route for flow down the catchment is likely to be modest compared with river discharge. The hydrological complexity revealed in a geological setting typical of lowland UK Chalk streams has implications both for investigation methods and for management such as in the setting of environmental objectives in the European Water Framework Directive.
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.
The manuscript describes the use of precision image capture technologies to measure root ontogeny of four diverse Festulolium populations and relevant perennial ryegrass controls. It describes changes over a 4‐month period of the growing season and root development at two soil depths. The paper relates changes in root design in terms of benefits to ecosystem services and to combat climate change.
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.
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.
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%).
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.
Background. Syphilis rates have increased markedly among men who have sex with men (MSM) internationally. We examined trends in syphilis testing and detection of early syphilis among MSM in ...Australia. Methods. Serial cross-sectional analyses on syphilis testing and diagnoses among MSM attending a national sentinel network of 46 clinics in Australia between 2007 and 2014. Results. 359 313 clinic visits were included. The proportion of MSM serologically tested for syphilis annually increased in HIV-negative (48% to 91%; Ptrend < .0001) and HIV-positive MSM (42% to 77%; Ptrend < .0001). The mean number of tests per man per year increased from 1.3 to 1.6 in HIV-negative MSM (Ptrend < .0001) and from 1.6 to 2.3 in HIV-positive MSM (Ptrend < .0001). 2799 and 1032 syphilis cases were detected in HIV-negative and HIV-positive MSM, respectively. Among HIV-negative MSM, the proportion of infections that were early latent increased from 27% to 44% (Ptrend < .0001), while the proportion that were secondary decreased from 24% to 19% (Ptrend = .030). Among HIV-positive MSM, early latent infections increased from 23% to 45% (Ptrend < .0001), while secondary infections decreased from 45% to 26% (Ptrend = .0003). Among HIV-positive MSM, decreasing secondary syphilis correlated with increasing testing coverage (r = −0.87; P = .005) or frequency (r = −0.93; P = .001). Conclusions. Increases in syphilis screening were associated with increased detection of asymptomatic infectious syphilis and relative falls in secondary syphilis for both HIV-positive and HIV-negative MSM nationally, suggesting interruption of syphilis progression.
The New South Wales (NSW) HIV Strategy 2016-2020 aims for the virtual elimination of HIV transmission in NSW, Australia, by 2020. Despite high and increasing levels of HIV testing and treatment since ...2012, the annual number of HIV diagnoses in NSW has remained generally unchanged. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective in preventing HIV infection among gay and bisexual men (GBM) when taken appropriately. However, there have been no population-level studies that evaluate the impact of rapid PrEP scale-up in high-risk GBM. Expanded PrEP Implementation in Communities in NSW (EPIC-NSW) is a population-level evaluation of the rapid, targeted roll-out of PrEP to high-risk individuals.
EPIC-NSW, is an open-label, single-arm, multi-centre prospective observational study of PrEP implementation and impact. Over 20 public and private clinics across urban and regional areas in NSW have participated in the rapid roll-out of PrEP, supported by strong community mobilization and PrEP promotion. The study began on 1 March 2016, aiming to enroll at least 3700 HIV negative people at high risk of HIV. This estimate took into consideration criteria for PrEP prescription in people at high risk for acquiring HIV as defined in the NSW PrEP guidelines. Study participants receive once daily co-formulated tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) and are followed for up to 24 months. Follow-up includes: testing for HIV at 1 month, HIV and other sexually transmissible infections three-monthly, HCV annually and monitoring of renal function six-monthly. Optional online behavioural surveys are conducted quarterly. The co-primary endpoints are (i) HIV diagnoses and incidence in the cohort and (ii) HIV diagnoses in NSW.
EPIC-NSW is a population-based PrEP implementation trial which targets the entire estimated population of GBM at high risk for HIV infection in NSW. It will provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the population impact of PrEP on a concentrated HIV epidemic.
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ (identifying number NCT02870790 ; registration date 14 August 2016), pre-results stage.
Children and adults with severe intellectual disability and complex needs often show behaviours and distress that carers and professionals find difficult to identify causes for, manage and decrease. ...The prevailing view is that these behaviours and distress are learned and consequently interventions focus on behavioural techniques. In this article we summarise the findings of research that indicate that behaviour and distress in this population are influenced by transient and stable characteristics or conditions that can interact with aspects of learning, be independent of learning, and interact with each other. These transient and stable characteristics or conditions are: pain and discomfort, sensory sensitivity, anxiety and low mood, sleep problems, atypical emotional regulation, specific cognitive difference, and differences in social behaviour. To aid carers and professionals, we present a checklist of the elements of an assessment process that covers these transient and stable characteristics or conditions and other relevant influences on behaviour and distress such as seizures, medication, learning and communication. We also draw attention to the benefit of identifying the cause of intellectual disability to inform the assessment process.
PDF
