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Spinal cord pathology of ovine CLN5 and CLN6 neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (Batten disease) : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Agricultural Science at Lincoln University
Get PDFNeuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL or Batten disease) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder, which occurs in approximately 1 in 12,500 children worldwide and currently has no cure. To date, there are thirteen known variants of NCL, caused by mutations in the genes CLN1-8 or CLN10-14. Two naturally occurring forms of CLN5 and CLN6 NCL exist in Borderdale and South Hampshire sheep breeds respectively. These large animal models recapitulate the clinicopathological features of the human disease and have been instrumental in understanding the human condition and in the development of gene therapies.
Affected sheep have a well-characterised pathogenic cascade in the brain, which begins prenatally and involves neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation and lysosomal storage, but very little is known about their spinal cord pathology. This study examined anatomy and neurochemistry in the healthy sheep spinal cord and then compared that to pathology in the CLN5 and CLN6 affected spine over the disease course. Neurodegeneration was assessed by area measurements and neuron counts. This revealed that there was no grey matter loss in the spinal cord for either diseased genotype, but total cross-sectional area and white matter spinal cord areas declined rapidly at end-stage disease (18 months of age). There was also an equivalent late-stage reduction in motor neuron counts in the CLN5 affected sheep spinal cord.
Fluorescent microscopy showed that lysosomal storage increased in the CLN6 affected sheep spinal cord from 3 to 18 months of age, whilst rates of accumulation were slower in CLN5 affected sheep until late in the disease course. Immunohistochemistry found that activated astrocytes were present in the CLN6 affected spinal cord at 18 months of age, but not in the ovine CLN5 model.
Collectively, these results show that pathological changes in the spinal cord occurred late in the disease process, making them secondary to that occurring in the brain. This indicates that CLN5 and CLN6 affected sheep may have a “top-down” or “brain-first” propagation of disease. Despite subtle differences in the pathogenic cascade, the pathological endpoint in the spinal cord for CLN5 and CLN6 affected animals was very similar. This natural history study of spinal cord pathology in ovine NCL increases our knowledge about disease progression and informs subsequent decisions on optimal routes of administration for gene therapy in NCL
Mountains of inequality: Encountering the politics of climate adaptation across the Himalaya
No full textThere has been a widespread call for the development of transformative adaptation knowledge and strategies in the Himalayan region because of the intensifying onset of climate change impacts. But such transformative thinking is absent in much of Himalayan climate knowledge production, which builds on environmental deterministic and techno-managerial renditions of exceptional precarity; advocates for an increase in the scientific and expert driven projects on the ground; and remains rooted in the scalar realities of the nation-state. This paper contributes to the rich scholarship that counterbalances depoliticized renditions of climate change adaptation, by presenting “everyday stories of adaptation” that have emerged from the authors’ work alongside Himalayan communities. In this work we ask, who is the subject in Himalayan climate adaptation discourse and policies? And how can their stories help us envision an adaptation praxis, which challenges regional narratives of crisis and provides alternatives to climate reductionist thinking/planning, by foregrounding the intersectionality and plurality of communities and ecologies? The stories come from three parts of the Himalaya: Uttarakhand, Khumbu, and Assam, and highlight the daily labor for adaptation and its mercurial relationship with the labor for survival. We find that intertwined with changing climate-society relationships are, historical caste privileges and changing generational relationships to land; the complicated engagements between indigeneity, communal sovereignty, and exclusionary institutional mandates; and life with ethnoreligious othering in an aqueous and geopolitically fluid borderland. Together these stories witness the relational social-ecological worlds of regional inhabitants, challenging their powerless and pejorative depictions through climate reductive framings. We conclude with a set of objectives to enable more hopeful and just adaptation futures
Report and Recommendation of the Review Panel : Severe Weather Emergency Recovery (Climate Change – Forestry) Order (No 2) 2023
No full textAs required under section 16 of the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023, this is the Review Panel’s report on this draft Order, including recommendations and brief comments. the effect of the proposed draft Order provides unfettered discretion to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) as to whether to provide relief to foresters by unwinding actions taken by foresters prior to this amendment being enacted. The Panel recommends that this provision should be amended to include criteria which bind the decision of the EPA
Pasture production: A compilation of historical datasets from farms in Bay of Plenty
No full textBay of Plenty district, and particularly the Rotorua Lakes area, has a diverse terrain and soil types which influence pasture production. Regular measurement of pasture production enables short term decision making on a farm scale and is invaluable for catchment, district and regional long term management strategies. Thomas (Tom) M. Gee, was a retired farmer with more than 18 years of field trial experience with MAF Field Research Division. He collected data from more than 30 farms after he retired. Data from other sites in the district were collected in the early 1970s by MAF technicians stationed in Whakatane and Tauranga and later by AgResearch staff and a farm consultant based in Rotorua. Tom Gee’s mission was to use these measurements to provide farmers with rates of growth (ROG) data to inform them about their farm. The Gee farm (Fairbank) of 200 ha was originally leased from Ngati Whakaue Tribal Lands in 1916 and then purchased before much of it was sold back to the Incorporation in 1970. Tom retired in 1989 but kept meticulously recording pasture growth rates on different farms up to ~ 2007. Some field notes were lost, but datasets with gaps are still useful to assist monthly growth rates calculations. His valuable and extensive (almost 25 years) on farm field records have been retrieved, compiled, assembled, and digitised, to be saved electronically, and entered into the AgYields National Database hosted at Lincoln University. Part of this legacy dataset has been summarised and dry matter yields and growth rates calculated, consistent with previous methods, to provide a quantified description of mean monthly pasture growth rates across the Bay of Plenty region, in New Zealand
Evaluating the densities and distribution of root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.) in wheat grown in Canterbury, New Zealand
No full textSpecies of root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus spp.) are associated with significant reductions in wheat yield in wheat-growing regions around the world. Of these, Pratylenchus thornei and P. neglectus are known to cause the highest damage to the Australasian wheat industry. New Zealand is known to produce high wheat yields on a per-hectare basis yet little research has been conducted to date to determine the effects of Pratylenchus spp. on the production of wheat in New Zealand. Therefore, as the first step towards filling this knowledge gap, the current research focused on conducting surveys to determine the population densities and distribution of Pratylenchus spp. in wheat-growing regions in Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand. Surveys were conducted at ten selected sites that were geographically distinct from each other. At six of the ten sites, lesion nematode populations were reported to be above the recorded Australian threshold of 2000 nematodes per kg of soil. In Australia, it’s been recorded that around 50% yield reductions can occur in intolerant wheat varieties when population densities reaches this number. Differences in population density within each location was also observed indicating the uneven distribution of lesion nematodes within a field. Morphological measurements of the nematodes collected from multiple sites during this study confirmed the presence of P. thornei and P. neglectus in Canterbury wheat-producing areas indicating a potential threat to the New Zealand wheat industry by root-lesion nematodes. Further studies need to be conducted to fully understand the situation and to develop management strategies to mitigate threats from nematodes
Defining a new learning ecosystem for multilingual learners: A case study on ‘reimagining’ development economics
No full textImproving learner success, particularly for multilingual learners, requires an approach that looks at the learner, the teacher and the course, and acknowledgment that how a student responds to the classroom environment and course content is influenced by “a multiplicity of intersecting experiences and a constellation of linguistic and cultural factors” (Zamel and Spack, 2006, p. 127). Although intersectionality could contribute to better learning experiences, in this paper, we argue that the positive externalities associated with a diverse classroom can be achieved when the teaching team addresses the barriers to adoption to a new “learning ecosystem”.
A learning ecosystem is multifaceted and complex and can be difficult for any tertiary student. In this paper we focus on a course redesign approach for a cohort of overseas students at a tertiary institution in New Zealand. Although the students enrolled in the third-year course are exposed to the learning culture of a western academic institution prior to coming to the New Zealand campus, our investigation reveals that the lack of recognition of the adoption barriers to the new learning ecosystem impact student learning experiences. In this working paper we describe the process of developing teaching strategies and assessments that have the goal of improving learning experiences for students in a third-year undergraduate Development Economics course. We adopted a case study approach to evaluate how the choice of teaching strategies driven by the acknowledgement of the adoption barriers for a new learning ecosystem can enhance student learning outcomes.
Since the inception of the course in 2015, the lecturer/Author 1, a multilingual learner, has made deliberate attempts throughout the delivery of the course to address the issues concerning multilingual learners. In 2022, Author 1 adopted the following additional changes in terms of course delivery and assessment: 1. co-designed extra sessions with a learning advisor on developing evidence-based arguments; and 2. making connections of course content and real life through extracts from newspaper articles for each of the modules. Despite these changes, the lecturer noted more negative student feedback than in past years and a lack of rigour in students’ group assessments and final exam answers. As a result, the lecturer sought support from a team of academic developers to redesign the course.
Redesign focused on revising the assessments by creating two new components: (1) constructing a set of feedback loops for three interconnected presentations before the submission of the written report; and (2) reflection pieces, coined as “module summaries”. Rather than accuracy of the answer as is required in the other assessments, these reflective pieces allow students to raise questions about the effectiveness of the topics covered in the specific module and help the instructor to identify the next steps for better engagement.
During our presentation we will share the impact of these changes on student outcomes for the current cohort of students in Semester 2, 2023. Our analysis, thereby, is likely to provide evidence for the rationale for focusing beyond language proficiency, and to develop strategies for more inclusion of multilingual learners
Studies on the effect of oxidation on bioactivity of phenolics and wine lees extracts
No full textIt is expected that any processing and handling of lees (e.g., drying, storage or removal of residual alcohol using various concentration techniques) will expose the material to oxidation and the consequences of oxidation on the biological activity of the lees and the lees extracts are unknown. The effects of oxidation (using horseradish peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide model system) on phenolic composition and their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities were investigated in (i) a flavonoid model system composed of catechin and grape seed tannin (Cat:GST) extracts at various ratios and (ii) in Pinot noir (PN) and Riesling (RL) wine lees samples. For the flavonoid model, oxidation had a minor or no impact on total phenol content but increased (p < 0.05) total tannin content from approximately 145 to 1200 µg epicatechin equivalent/mL. An opposite observation was found in the PN lees samples where oxidation reduced (p < 0.05) the total phenol content (TPC) by approximately 10 mg GAE/g dry matter (DM) lees. The mean degree of the polymerization (mDP) values of the oxidized flavonoid model samples ranged from 15 to 30. The Cat:GST ratio and interaction of the Cat:GST ratio with oxidation were found significantly to affect the mDP values of the flavonoid model samples (p < 0.05). Oxidation increased the mDP values in all oxidized flavonoid model samples except for Cat:GST 0:100. The mDP values of the PN lees samples ranged from 7 to 11 and remained the same after oxidation. There was no significant reduction in the antioxidant activities (DPPH and ORAC) of the model and wine lees after oxidation except the PN1 lees sample (decreased from 3.5 to 2.8 mg Trolox equivalent/g DM extracts). In addition, no correlation was observed between mDP (approximately 10 to 30) and DPPH (0.09) and ORAC assay (−0.22), which indicates that the higher mDP resulted in a poor ability to scavenge DPPH· and AAPH· free radicals. Antimicrobial activities of the flavonoid model were found to be improved after the oxidation treatment against S. aureus and E. coli with minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) of 1.56 and 0.39 mg/mL. This may indicate that new compounds were formed during the oxidation treatment, and these compounds showed more effective microbicidal activity. LC-MS work is required in the future to identify the compounds that are newly formed during the oxidation of the lees
Are sustainable investments interdependent? The international evidence
No full textThe rising concerns about climate change and environmental degradation have urged various stakeholder to focus on sustainable investments that are facing a drag from the Covid-19 pandemic. Since environmental and Covid-19 challenges are global, it is critical to assess the interlinkages of sustainable investments. In this research, we employ the dependence, centrality, and dynamic network approach to examine the interdependence and its determinants across multiple countries between January 2009 and March 2021. The findings indicate France as the lead risk transmitter while Japan and Taiwan show risk reception among international markets. We observe an increase in dependence during economic turmoil notably in Covid-19 episode. The centrality network revealed the prominent significance of sustainable investments in the European countries that can be attributed to their exceptional efforts to combat the climate change. Finally, our results suggest that the volatility in gold prices is the key driver of interdependence of sustainable investments
Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics: Farmers’ organizations and sustainable development
No full textThis special issue features 14 new research papers investigating the role of farmers’ organizations (e.g., collective action, self-help groups, producer companies/organizations, and cooperatives) in supporting sustainable development. The key findings include: (1) farmer groups and cooperatives promote farmers’ adoption of good farm management practices, new agricultural technologies and sustainable farming practices, although not substantially improving farm yield; (2) outsourcing services provided by agricultural cooperatives help to increase the technical efficiency of crop production; (3) cooperative membership enhances members’ bargaining power and enables them to sell their products at higher prices; (4) cooperatives motivate rural laborers to work in off-farm sectors, while self-help groups empower rural women in decision-making; (5) internet use improves agricultural cooperatives’ economic, social, and innovative performances; (6) direct administrative intervention supporting cooperative development may lead to the emergence of shell cooperatives; (7) participation in forest farmer organizations enables wood value chain upgrading; (8) increasing the cooperative size in terms of income, equity, and assets increases the profitability of savings and credit cooperatives; and (9) creating cross-border cooperation between cooperatives generates benefits for all parties involved. These findings can inspire the design of policies aimed to support farmers’ organizations in achieving sustainable development goals
Grazing management practices and pasture composition on Waikato and Canterbury dairy farms diverging in bulk milk urea content
No full textNew Zealand dairy farmers have little real-time information on surplus nitrogen (N) in their herd’s diet to help manage farm-scale N loss. By understanding the influence of management on bulk milk urea (BMU), farmers could potentially use milk components to identify changes in dietary N surplus. Our study examined the relationships between grazing management and BMU concentration on 38 dairy farms selected for low or high BMU in Canterbury and Waikato. Measurements included pre- and post-grazing herbage mass, perennial ryegrass leaf stage at grazing, and botanical and chemical composition (crude protein (CP) and metabolisable energy (ME) content) of herbage on four occasions over a year. Herds with Low BMU tended to graze pastures with a greater pre-grazing herbage mass (+153 kg DM/ha), a more advanced leaf stage (+0.13 number of leaves), and longer grazing intervals (+11 days). Consistent with this, herbage on Low BMU farms had lower CP (-2.7%) compared with High BMU farms. We identified grazing management differences between Low and High BMU groups, which could be linked to reductions in N surplus in the herd’s diet through the lower CP% of pasture offered. Future work should determine the importance of this in relation to other farm management factors such as supplement and N fertiliser use