Cooperative Research Centre

About: Cooperative Research Centre is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Sea ice. The organization has 7633 authors who have published 8607 publications receiving 429721 citations.

Herpes Simplex Virus-Specific CD8+ T Cells Can Clear Established Lytic Infections from Skin and Nerves and Can Partially Limit the Early Spread of Virus after Cutaneous Inoculation

Abstract: HSV infects skin or mucosal epithelium as well as entering the sensory nerves and ganglia. We have used TCR-transgenic T cells specific for the immunodominant class I-restricted determinant from HSV glycoprotein B (gB) combined with a flank zosteriform model of infection to examine the ability of CD8+ T cells to deal with infection. During the course of zosteriform disease, virus rapidly spreads from the primary inoculation site in the skin to sensory dorsal root ganglia and subsequently reappears in the distal flank. Virus begins to be cleared from all sites about 5 days after infection when gB-specific CD8+ T cells first appear within infected tissues. Although activated gB-specific effectors can partially limit virus egress from the skin, they do so only at the earliest times after infection and are ineffective at halting the progression of zosteriform disease once virus has left the inoculation site. In contrast, these same T cells can completely clear ongoing lytic replication if transferred into infected immunocompromised RAG-1-/- mice. Therefore, we propose that the role of CD8+ T cells during the normal course of disease is to clear replicating virus after infection is well established rather than limit the initial spread of HSV from the primary site of inoculation.

A simple technique for estimating an allowance for uncertain sea-level rise

Abstract: Projections of climate change are inherently uncertain, leading to considerable debate over suitable allowances for future changes such as sea-level rise (an ‘allowance’ is, in this context, the amount by which something, such as the height of coastal infrastructure, needs to be altered to cope with climate change). Words such as ‘plausible’ and ‘high-end’ abound, with little objective or statistically valid support. It is firstly shown that, in cases in which extreme events are modified by an uncertain change in the average (e.g. flooding caused by a rise in mean sea level), it is preferable to base future allowances on estimates of the expected frequency of exceedances rather than on the probability of at least one exceedance. A simple method of determining a future sea-level rise allowance is then derived, based on the projected rise in mean sea level and its uncertainty, and on the variability of present tides and storm surges (‘storm tides’). The method preserves the expected frequency of flooding events under a given projection of sea-level rise. It is assumed that the statistics of storm tides relative to mean sea level are unchanged. The method is demonstrated using the GESLA (Global Extreme Sea-Level Analysis) data set of roughly hourly sea levels, covering 198 sites over much of the globe. Two possible projections of sea-level rise are assumed for the 21st century: one based on the Third and Fourth Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and a larger one based on research since the Fourth Assessment Report.

Global Change and the Biodiversity of Freshwater Ecosystems: Impacts on Linkages between Above-Sediment and Sediment Biota

Abstract: disturbances varying in strength, frequency, predictability, duration, and spatial scale. Such disturbances can deplete the biota, disrupt ecological processes, and redistribute resources (Giller 1996, Lake 2000). Generally, in both lakes and rivers, recovery from the effects of natural disturbance is relatively rapid, although there are exceptions, such as recovery from catastrophes on the scale of the Mount St. Helens eruption (Niemi et al. 1990, Giller 1996). Human activities are now a major force affecting the ecosystems of the earth (Vitousek et al. 1997, Sala et al. 2000). Human enterprises—agriculture, industry, recreation, and international commerce—are the source of disturbances affecting all ecosystems to varying spatial extents and to varying degrees. The disturbances arise from changes in land use, anthropogenic changes in global biogeochemistry, and biotic additions and losses (Vitousek et al. 1997). These three factors are the principal agents of global environmental change. Furthermore, they interact to give rise to the two large-scale phenomena of climate change and loss of biodiversity (Vitousek et al. 1997). Freshwater sediment biota are particularly vulnerable to global change because of direct impact on the sediments and on the water over these sediments, and because of the transmission of impacts from adjacent terrestrial ecosystems. Fresh waters are intimately connected to the terrestrial realm through groundwaters and surface waters. Movement of organic matter, nutrients, and sediment among the terrestrial realm, the water column, and aquatic sediments