OMG my x-ray machine has no x-rays, what do I do???

No, this isn't the exclusive that you've been hearing all about! That's still coming - but it's so scorchingly hot that we're wrapping the web server in a bit of insulation before we put it up. Just in case, you know...

OK, on to the real story. Bear with me a bit here for this MacGyver-type scenario: say you've got an x-ray machine, but picketers at the Lucas Heights reactor have meant that your radiation source hasn't been replaced. Your x-rays have run out! As a vet-type person, a delicate baby something-or-other has been brought to you, and you need to x-ray it to check that its adorable fuzzy leg isn't broken. What to do??? Can you MacGyver up some x-rays to save an cute fluffy baby animal???

The chances are that I wouldn't be writing this if you couldn't.

Apparently, unrolling clear sticky tape (Scotch tape) can generate x-rays, and not just a little sparkle, but enough to image tissue as thick as a human hand.  Freaky.

Back to our MacGyver situation, and all you need to do is get your engineering buddy to wire up a system to unwind sticky tape at about 3cm a second where you want your x-ray source, and ta-da! X-rays = cute fluffy baby animal saved!

Now, those people that prefer tape to staples generally start looking worried about now. To those people: harden up. You don't avoid airplanes because of the x-rays you'll get there, do you?

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Coming soon to The Appendix...

Don't miss our world-exclusive expose, coming this month. You'll hear it here first!
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2008 Ig Nobel Prize Winners!

The 2008 Ig Nobel prizes were held on Thursday, October 2. Read about the winners here. In the biology category, Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert and Michel Franc for discovered that fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than fleas that live on a cat.
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EndNote's Parent Company Gets Nasty

Here at the University of Sydney, we are encouraged to use EndNote citation software to manage our reference material. There isn't much discussion of competitors or alternatives to EndNote, but if you look, you'll find that there are quite a few out there. From a user's point of view, it's important that there are strong competitors to EndNote, because competition will push EndNote to try to make their software the best, to fix the problems that it has, and to add new, useful features.

Unfortunately, the parent company of EndNote seems to have decided that they will pursue a strategy of attacking their competitors, rather than trying to be the best. They've recently filed an apparently baseless suit against a new-ish competitor, Zotero.

I thought it was worth bringing this to your attention, because Zotero supports reference formats that anyone can use, while EndNote uses proprietary formats that other products can't read. Imagine if this happened with gene or protein sequence files! The Zotero strategy is far more in line with an academic needs, and they deserve our support.
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Animal agriculture on a grand scale

The small cardboard brochure that arrived in the mail belied the spectacle that awaited me in Hanoi, Vietnam, at the 13th AAAP conference. It gathered together 1240 delegates from 36 countries and the aims were sweeping- to increase the quality of life of poor people in rural areas, and to discuss ways to reduce the disadvantage of smallholder farmers in a global economy.

The opening ceremony for the Asian – Australasian Association of Animal Production Conference, inside the soaring National Convention Centre (where APEC 2006 was held- there was even a fetching picture of John Howard in national dress on the wall), was a spectacle complete with a military band, endless floral displays, and the most enormous conference banner I have ever seen. It was a far cry from the daily lives of the people that this conference would aim to help; many smallholder farmers live on less than $2 a day.

At the ceremony, the Vietnamese Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development described the plan for Vietnam to be “industrialised by 2020”. Surely there is a hint of irony in discussing this at such a conference: What happens to the traditional smallholder farmer when he is squeezed out of the supply chain under pressure to maximise efficiency and intensify production? It is a tricky question. One cannot deny the rights of poor farmers to improved education, health and security in terms of producing enough food to live on year-round, but shouldn’t we also be aiming to preserve the culture and traditional ways of life of smallholder farmers, rather than trying to turn their farms into intensive piggeries or sterile sheds full of poultry?

Fortunately, many of the scientists at this conference are presenting interesting and inspiring research that can realistically be implemented to improve the lives of smallholder farmers without resorting to intensive non-traditional agriculture. Professor Peter Wynn (now at CSU, Australia) presented on the effects of pre- and post-natal nutrition on cow and buffalo calves, with some simple ideas to improve the growth and life-long productivity of these animals, and Dr Jean Charles Maillard (CIRAD, France) spoke about the need to preserve traditional breeds of production animal, which can be a reservoir of genetic diversity and are often more disease resistant than intensively produced breeds.

Environmental issues such as global warming and the decreasing supply of fossil fuels were not ignored, and several presenters touched on methods that can increase production or reduce greenhouse gas emissions by utilising agricultural waste. Dr Thomas Preston (Columbia) spoke about the use of a gasifier to generate electricity on small farms in Columbia (these simple machines can be fuelled by crop byproducts such as coconut shells), and Dr R.A. Leng (Australia) advocated the use of combined systems, such as farming rice with ducks to weed the paddies as a simple alternative to herbicides, and the use of grazing cattle between palm plants to increase palm oil production.

This conference has shown us many examples of this ‘back to the future’ approach, where all waste is utilised and everything is regarded as a resource. We can only hope that the recommendations from this kind of research will be implemented, as this may be the only way to ensure that smallholder farms remain viable in our increasing globalised world.

Photograph top: Red Sahiwal calf and chicken, Vietnam
Photograph bottom: Part of the foyer of the National Convention Centre, Hanoi
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Profile: Professor John W. James

You'll find Professor John James in Room 513 of the RMC Gunn Building on most Wednesdays and Thursdays. And why would you be looking for him? Well, that bit is easy - he's a retired academic with a background in quantitative genetics, biostatistics, and computing applications, and since statistics in particular is the least favoured discipline of 99.9%* of biologists (*estimated using a thorough survey of this blog's editors), his skills and interests are very valuable.

John has retired from his post at the University of NSW, but his two days a week with us in the Vet Faculty shows that he has not been able to completely resist the siren call of academia. However, he does have other interests that keep him busy, including sport and literature. This Renaissance Man and Fountain of Statistical Wisdom provided the following answers to our profile questions:

I was born... in 1935 at Rockhampton, the first of 7 children to 5 of whom Dad transmitted a Y chromosome. I did not pass on my copy, but my brothers have passed on 7 copies in all.

At school I... was called Jesse, after a well-known American, my resemblance to whom is, I believe, in name rather than character.

My first relationship... was begun 50 years ago and still continues.

Friends say I... like any game that involves hitting or kicking a ball.

If I wasn't me I'd like to be... Roger Federer, hitting the ball so much better than I do.

At the moment I'm reading... (as usual) several books : The Secret River by Kate Grenville, Shostakovich and His World edited by Laurel Fay, Something to Declare by Julian Barnes, and once again An Introduction to Probability Theory and Its Applications by William Feller. This old favourite provides much entertainment and instruction, and includes an account of the Galton-Watson process which can be used to model Y chromosome transmission.

My worst job was... shovelling crushed ore back on to a conveyor belt in the No. 1 Mill at Mt. Morgan mine at the points where it had fallen off. By the time we had finished at the last point it was time to go back to the first.

At the moment I'm working... not very hard,

...which is interesting because... that is also the way I worked before I retired.
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Profile: Dr. Gauthami Sudhamayee Kondagari

Gauthami is one of only a few postgrad students here who has actually worked as a vet! She joined us in February, 2005, and is working on a doctoral research project, entitled "Intra thecal enzyme replacement therapy in canine fucosidosis and investigation of pathophysiology". Before coming to Australia and starting her PhD, Gauthami worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology, College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India (2002-2005). She worked as a Veterinary Surgeon from 1999 to 2002.

Gauthami has completed her Master of Veterinary Science in Physiology (M.V. Sc.) and Bachelors in Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry (B.V.Sc. & A.H.) at the College of Veterinary Science, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, AP, India.

The story of how Gauthami came to be here with us in Australia is an interesting one. She had always been passionate about neuroscience, and loved dogs, including her family's German Shepherd, Buffy. When her husband, Ramana, found work in Australia, Gauthami started to look for roles here, and in May 2004 visited the Faculty of Veterinary Science here at the University of Sydney. She met a few potential supervisors, including Rosanne Taylor, who had a project looking at canine fucosidosis in Springer Spaniels. With such a good match for her interests, Gauthami was inspired to work on this project, and the rest is history.

Gauthami will be writing for us again soon to tell us more about living and practicing veterinary science in India. Here is her profile:

I was born... in Hyderabad, the most populous city of Andhra Pradesh which is the southern state of India.

At school I... was keen on becoming an Engineer as I was strong in Maths.

My first relationship... ended in marrying Ramana and we are blessed with 2 beautiful children.

Friends say I... am a naughty nut! "but now no more"

If I wasn't me I'd like to be... an Engineer.

At the moment I'm reading... only books related neuroscience as I am writing up my work.

My worst job was... while working as Vet in a rural area, I had to attend janmabhoomi where I was forced to attend meetings with politicians and villagers to resolve issues not relevant to my job profile.

At the moment I'm working... intra-thecal enzyme replacement therapy in canine fucosidosis

... which is interesting because... it gives encouraging information to parents whose children suffering with fucosidosis too.
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Profile: Karma Nidup

I was born... in the cowshed nearby a beautiful lake surrounded with thick broad-leaved forest. My late brave mother was alone and while in labour she saw star through the window and named me “Kam Mindu” – meaning Northern Star. Later, my Buddhist teacher changed it to Karma Nidup which means “blessing of the stars”.

At school I… was a bit hyperactive (unusual for a northern star)

My first relationship was... that was in high school. She dumped me after few days for a guy who was a singer in the school. It is okay because even I admire singers… No grudges!

Friends say I... don’t look like 35… Keep saying it folks.

If I wasn't me I'd like to be... a television journalist or radio jockey.

At the moment I'm reading... books on genetics – well, I have to.

My worst job was... so far I have no complaint.

At the moment I'm working... on genetic diversity of Bhutanese and Nepalese pigs

... which is interesting because... these animals will change my title from Mr to Dr –hopefully, fingers crossed!
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Flying pigs

Marijuana grows wild in Bhutan and only a few people, mostly poor subsistence farmers, take notice of it. But they don’t consume it- instead this wild weed is fed to the pigs to fatten them, keep them quiet at night, and restrain restless behavior during oestrous.

Perhaps this Himalayan Shangri-La Kingdom may be the only country where pigs do ‘fly’. My research involves unveiling the phylogenetics and phylogeography of these ‘flying pigs’ using FAO/ISAG-recommended microsatellite markers and partial sequences of mitochondrial DNA. My wishful thinking is that findings from this study could be useful for drawing up a program for strategic conservation and sustainable utilization of indigenous pig genetic resources in Bhutan.


By Karma Nidup
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Profile: Dr. Gary Muscatello

Dr. Gary Muscatello joined the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney in 2008. He completed his BVSc at the University of Melbourne in 1997, after three years in practice he returned to the University of Melbourne to undertake postgraduate studies completing a PhD in Veterinary Microbiology in 2005, investigating the effects of farm management on ecology of virulent Rhodococcus equi. His work in the field of R. equi epidemiology has raised many questions regarding the method of spread of virulent R. equi on horse studs, with results suggesting an alternative contagious route of aerosol transmission.

Gary gave us some insight into his background and passions with his answers to our profile questions:

I was born... into a large immigrant Italian family in the Western suburbs of Melbourne.

At school I... was an AFL superstar in the making...

My first relationship was... in kinder with a freckled face red haired girl who lived a block from me, we were friends through to year 12 ...

Friends say I... love a challenge and don’t mind putting in the hard yards ..

If I wasn't me I'd like to be... a sports journalist.

At the moment I'm reading... Finding Nino, A sea change in Italy by Marc Llewellyn (I started reading this book at Christmas and am still on the first chapter!!).

My worst job was... haven’t had one yet!!...

At the moment I'm working... on developing new units of study in the Animal and Veterinary bioscience degree ...

... which is interesting because... it gives me the opportunity to mould young scientific minds...
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