De Lucca, SD, O'meara, TJ & Tovey, ER 2000, 'Exposure to mite and cat allergens on a range of clothing items at home and the transfer of cat allergen in the workplace.', The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology, vol. 106, no. 5, pp. 874-879.
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BACKGROUND: Clothing has been proposed as an additional source of exposure to mite and cat allergens. Dispersal of allergen into public places has also been attributed to clothing. OBJECTIVES: We sought to study the contribution of various types of clothing on mite and cat exposure in a domestic environment. Also, we studied the ability of clothing to transfer allergen in a workplace. METHODS: Personal exposure to mite and cat allergen from a range of clothing was measured by using intranasal air samplers in 11 homes. Five categories of clothing were tested. Wearing no upper clothing was the sixth category tested to distinguish the contribution of clothing over ambient background exposure. An adhesive tape was used to sample allergen from the surface of clothing, and reservoir dust samples were also collected. The above techniques were also used in the workplace to examine the amount of cat allergen transferred from cat owners to non-cat owners. RESULTS: The amount of mite and cat allergen inhaled differed among the clothing types worn and whether they had been washed recently. Wearing a woolen sweater increased personal allergen exposure to cat and mite allergen by a mean of 11 and 10 times, respectively. Clothing items that were less frequently washed carried more allergen whether assessed by vacuuming or sampled with adhesive tape. This corresponded to the amount of allergen inhaled. We also found that cat levels on non-cat owners' clothing increased significantly at the end of a working day, which lead to the increase in their personal allergen exposure to cat. CONCLUSIONS: These studies strongly support the emerging model that personal clothing is an important source of both mite and cat allergen exposure. This article also demonstrates the importance of clothing as a means of distributing cat allergen into cat-free environments.
Doblin, MA, Blackburn, S & Hallegraeff, GM 2000, 'Intraspecific variation in the selenium requirement of different geographic strains of the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum', Journal Of Plankton Research, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 421-432.
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The requirement for selenium (IV) was assessed in five strains of the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum Graham, representing three populations from Tasmania (Australia), as well as one each from Japan and Spain. Strains were grown in nutrient-en
Gibb, SW, Barlow, RG, Cummings, DG, Rees, NW, Trees, CC, Holligan, P & Suggett, D 2000, 'Surface phytoplankton pigment distributions in the Atlantic Ocean: An assessment of basin scale variability between 50°N and 50°S', Progress in Oceanography, vol. 45, no. 3-4, pp. 339-368.
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We present an overview of the spatial distributions of phytoplankton pigments along transects between the UK and the Falkland Islands. These studies, undertaken as a component of the UK Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) programme, provided the first post-launch validation data for the NASA SeaWiFS satellite. Pigment data are used to characterise basin-scale variations in phytoplankton biomass and community composition over 100°of latitude, and to compliment the definition of hydrographic oceanic provinces. A summary of the key pigment characteristics of each province is presented. Concentrations of total chlorophyll a (totCHLa = chlorophyll a, CHLa + divinyl CHLa, dvCHLa) were greatest in high latitude temperate waters (>37°N and >35°S), and in the Canary Current Upwelling system. In these regions, the total carotenoid (totCAR) budget was dominated by photosynthetic carotenoids (PSCs). High accessory pigment diversity was observed of which fucoxanthin (FUC), 19'-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin (HEX), and diadinoxanthin (DIAD) were most abundant, indicating proliferation of large eukaryotes and nanoflagellates. In contrast, tropical and sub-tropical waters exhibited concentrations of totCHLa below 500 ng l-1, with the North Atlantic Sub-tropical East gyre (NASE, 26.7-35°N), South Equatorial Current (SeqC, 7-14.6°S) and South Atlantic tropical Gyre (SATG, 14.6-26°S) characterised by totCHLa of <100 ng-1. These waters exhibited relatively limited pigment diversity, and the totCAR budget was dominated by photoprotecting pigments (PPCs) of which zeaxanthin (ZEA), a marker of prokaryotes (cyanobacteria and prochlorophytes), was most abundant. DvCHLa, a marker of prochlorophytes was detected in waters at temperatures >15°C, and between the extremes of 48°N and 42°S. DvCHLa accounted for up to two-thirds of totCHLa in oligotrophic provinces demonstrating the importance of prochlorophytes to oceanic biomass. Overall, HEX was the dominant PSC, contributing up to 75% of totCAR. HEX...
Haynes, D, Ralph, PJ, Prange, J & Dennison, B 2000, 'The Impact of the Herbicide Diuron on Photosynthesis in Three Species of Tropical Seagrass', Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 41, no. 0, pp. 288-293.
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The impact and recovery from exposure to the herbicide diuron [DCMU; 3-(30,40-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethyl- urea] was assessed for three tropical seagrasses, maintained in outdoor aquaria over a 10-day period. Photosynthetic stress was detected using chlorophyll a Puorescence, measured with a Diving-PAM (pulse am- plitude modulated Puorometer). Exposure to 10 and 100 lg ly1 diuron resulted in a decline in eective quantum yield (F=Fm0 ) within 2 h of herbicide exposure in Cy- modocea serrulata, Halophila ovalis and Zostera capri- corni. Eective quantum yield also declined over the Rrst 24 h of exposure in H. ovalis at even lower diuron con- centrations (0.1 and 1.0 lg ly1). Eective quantum yield in H. ovalis and Z. capricorni was signiRcantly depressed at all diuron concentrations (0.1}100 lg ly1) after 5 days exposure, whereas eective quantum yield in C. serrulata was only signiRcantly lower in plants exposed to highest diuron concentrations (10 and 100 lg ly1). Eective quantum yield depression was present 5 days after plants exposed to 10 and 100 lg ly1 diuron were returned to fresh seawater. These results indicate that exposure to herbicide concentrations present in nearshore Queensland sediments present a potential risk to seagrass functioning.
O'Meara, T, Tovey, ER, Taylor, DJM, Graham, AH, Lovborg, U, Jones, AS & Sporik, R 2000, 'A New Immunodiagnostic System', Aerobiologia, vol. 16, pp. 113-118.
Ralph, PJ 2000, 'Herbicide Toxicity of Halophila ovalis Assessed by Chlorophyll a Fluorescence', Aquatic Botany, vol. 66, pp. 141-152.
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Razmovski, V, O'Meara, TJ, Taylor, DJ & Tovey, ER 2000, 'A new method for simultaneous immunodetection and morphologic identification of individual sources of pollen allergens.', The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology, vol. 105, no. 4, pp. 725-731.
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BACKGROUND: Exposure to outdoor allergens has commonly been estimated by collecting airborne particles with a Hirst-type spore trap and then using morphologic criteria to identify the intact pollen grains and fungal spores that are recognized as allergen sources. Several antibody-based blotting or fixation methods have also been developed that enable the counting of amorphous airborne particles carrying allergen, but none of these methods allow the ready association of the released allergen with the morphologically identifiable particle of origin. A method has been developed that uses pressure-sensitive adhesive tape to sample the airborne particles and then allows the immunoidentification of the specific particles that are the allergen sources. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to visualize and immunostain the particles carrying pollen allergen that are collected with a volumetric spore trap. METHODS: A Burkard sampler was used to collect airborne particles onto pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes. The particles were permanently fixed between the tape and a protein-binding membrane when the tape was laminated with the membrane. Allergens that elute from the particles onto the membrane were detected with a range of antibodies. Both the particle and associated immunostained allergen were viewed through the transparent tape for final microscopic identification. RESULTS: Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies and IgE from allergic patients stained allergens in the periphery of particles collected on the tapes. Individual pollen grains and paucimicronic particles were seen with halos of immunostained allergen surrounding them. When IgE was used, the density of immunostaining in the halo surrounding Lolium perenne pollen grains was found to be proportional to the level of Lolium-specific IgE. The method is highly sensitive and can be used to detect different airborne particles that carry allergen. Both the particle and the immunostaining can be subjected to a range of simple mea...
Salih, A, Larkum, A, Cox, G, Kuhl, M & Hoegh-Guldberg, O 2000, 'Fluorescent pigments in corals are photoprotective', Nature, vol. 408, pp. 850-853.
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All reef-forming corals depend on the photosynthesis performed by their algal symbiont, and such corals are therefore restricted to the photic zone. The intensity of light in this zone declines over several orders of magnitudefrom high and damaging levels at the surface to extreme shade conditions at the lower limit1. The ability of corals to tolerate this range implies effective mechanisms for light acclimation and adaptation2. Here we show that the fluorescent pigments3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (FPs) of corals provide a photobiological system for regulating the light environment of coral host tissue. Previous studies have suggested that under low light, FPs may enhance light availability4, 5. We now report that in excessive sunlight FPs are photoprotective; they achieve this by dissipating excess energy at wavelengths of low photosynthetic activity, as well as by reflecting of visible and infrared light by FP-containing chromatophores. We also show that FPs enhance the resistance to mass bleaching of corals during periods of heat stress, which has implications for the effect of environmental stress on the diversity of reef-building corals, such as enhanced survival of a broad range of corals allowing maintenance of habitat diversity.
Mitchell, JG & Seymour, JR 2000, 'Water column microscale patchiness: Meeting of the tactic and turbulent length scales', Denmark.
Seymour, JR 2001, 'Spatial heterogeneity in bacterioplankton abundance', Australia.
Seymour, JR, Mitchell, JG & Waters, R 2000, 'Flow cytometric analysis allows for the measurement of marine microorganisms.', Australia.
Seymour, JR, Mitchell, JG, Waters, R & Pile, A 2000, 'High resolution small-scale sampling and flow cytometric analysis allows for the measurement of microdistributions of marine microorganisms', Australia.
Waters, R, Mitchell, JG, Seymour, JR & Pile, A 2000, 'The use of flow cytometry to characterise the marine planktonic microenvironment', Adelaide, Australia.