ORCID Profile
0000-0003-0991-9198
Current Organisation
The Australian Museum/UNSW
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Palaeontology (incl. Palynology) | Geology | Geochemistry not elsewhere classified
Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences | Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Education and Training Systems not elsewhere classified |
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 15-04-2019
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/AM15038
Abstract: It was recently shown that adult male koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) possess a novel vocal organ, the velar vocal folds, that underlie their mating bellows. Here we demonstrate through dissection of the infrahyoid region that this novel structure is also present in female and immature male koalas.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 16-01-2013
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 22-09-2016
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 04-2018
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.172393
Abstract: Streamlined flippers are often considered the defining feature of seals and sea lions, whose very name ‘pinniped’ comes from the Latin pinna and pedis , meaning ‘fin-footed’. Yet not all pinniped limbs are alike. Whereas otariids (fur seals and sea lions) possess stiff streamlined forelimb flippers, phocine seals (northern true seals) have retained a webbed yet mobile paw bearing sharp claws. Here, we show that captive and wild phocines routinely use these claws to secure prey during processing, enabling seals to tear large fish by stretching them between their teeth and forelimbs. ‘Hold and tear’ processing relies on the primitive forelimb anatomy displayed by phocines, which is also found in the early fossil pinniped Enaliarctos . Phocine forelimb anatomy and behaviour therefore provide a glimpse into how the earliest seals likely fed, and indicate what behaviours may have assisted pinnipeds along their journey from terrestrial to aquatic feeding.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-10-2021
DOI: 10.1186/S13045-021-01177-0
Abstract: Patients with hematological malignancies (HM) are at high risk of mortality from SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19). A better understanding of risk factors for adverse outcomes may improve clinical management in these patients. We therefore studied baseline characteristics of HM patients developing COVID-19 and analyzed predictors of mortality. The survey was supported by the Scientific Working Group Infection in Hematology of the European Hematology Association (EHA). Eligible for the analysis were adult patients with HM and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 observed between March and December 2020. The study s le includes 3801 cases, represented by lymphoproliferative (mainly non-Hodgkin lymphoma n = 1084, myeloma n = 684 and chronic lymphoid leukemia n = 474) and myeloproliferative malignancies (mainly acute myeloid leukemia n = 497 and myelodysplastic syndromes n = 279). Severe/critical COVID-19 was observed in 63.8% of patients ( n = 2425). Overall, 2778 (73.1%) of the patients were hospitalized, 689 (18.1%) of whom were admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Overall, 1185 patients (31.2%) died. The primary cause of death was COVID-19 in 688 patients (58.1%), HM in 173 patients (14.6%), and a combination of both COVID-19 and progressing HM in 155 patients (13.1%). Highest mortality was observed in acute myeloid leukemia (199/497, 40%) and myelodysplastic syndromes (118/279, 42.3%). The mortality rate significantly decreased between the first COVID-19 wave (March–May 2020) and the second wave (October–December 2020) (581/1427, 40.7% vs. 439/1773, 24.8%, p value 0.0001). In the multivariable analysis, age, active malignancy, chronic cardiac disease, liver disease, renal impairment, smoking history, and ICU stay correlated with mortality. Acute myeloid leukemia was a higher mortality risk than lymphoproliferative diseases. This survey confirms that COVID-19 patients with HM are at high risk of lethal complications. However, improved COVID-19 prevention has reduced mortality despite an increase in the number of reported cases.
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 28-01-2014
DOI: 10.3354/ESR00559
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 24-06-2015
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 11-2015
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 05-2017
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.170022
Abstract: Many odontocete groups have developed enlarged facial crests, although these crests differ in topography, composition and function. The most elaborate crests occur in the South Asian river dolphin ( Platanista gangetica ), in which they rise dorsally as delicate, pneumatized wings anterior of the facial bones. Their position wrapping around the melon suggests their involvement in sound propagation for echolocation. To better understand the origin of crests in this lineage, we examined facial crests among fossil and living Platanistoidea, including a new taxon, Dilophodelphis fordycei , nov. gen. and sp., described herein, from the Early Miocene Astoria Formation of Oregon, USA. We measured the physical extent and thickness of platanistoid crests, categorized their relative position and used computed tomography scans to examine their internal morphology and relative bone density. Integrating these traits in a phylogenetic context, we determined that the onset of crest elaboration or enlargement and the evolution of crest pneumatization among the platanistoids were separate events, with crest enlargement beginning in the Oligocene. However, we find no evidence for pneumatization until possibly the Early Miocene, although certainly by the Middle Miocene. Such an evolutionary context, including data from the fossil record, should inform modelling efforts that seek to understand the ersity of sound generation morphology in Odontoceti.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2020
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 07-01-2022
Abstract: The discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved fossil site provides new insight into the nature of Miocene ecosystems.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 06-11-2019
DOI: 10.1017/PAB.2018.33
Abstract: Toothed cetacean (Odontoceti) lineages in the Miocene and Pliocene evolved rostra that are proportionally more elongate than any other aquatic mammal or reptile, living or extinct. Their similarities in cranial proportions to billfish may suggest a convergent feeding style, where the rostrum is swept through the water to hit and stun prey. Here we calculated second moment of area from rostral cross sections of these fossil odontocete taxa, as well as from extant ecological analogues, to infer variation in feeding behavior. Our results show that the extremely long rostra of extinct toothed whales vary considerably in functionally relevant measures of shape and likely exhibited a ersity of feeding behaviors, ranging from those similar to modern odontocetes to those convergent with billfish. Eustatic sea-level and temperature maxima of the Miocene likely led to changes in prey characteristics or abundance that enabled the repeated evolution of this extreme morphotype, which later went extinct during late Pliocene climatic deterioration.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.CMI.2021.05.005
Abstract: Mortality among patients with carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) infections varies between studies. We examined whether in vivo fitness of CRAB strains is associated with clinical outcomes in patients with CRAB infections. Isolates were collected from patients enrolled in the AIDA trial with hospital-acquired pneumonia, bloodstream infections and/or urinary tract infections caused by CRAB. The primary outcome was 14-day clinical failure, defined as failure to meet all criteria: alive haemodynamically stable improved or stable Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score improved or stable oxygenation and microbiological cure of bacteraemia. The secondary outcome was 14-day mortality. We tested in vivo growth using a neutropenic murine thigh infection model. Fitness was defined based on the CFU count 24 hours after injection of an inoculum of 10 The s le included 266 patients 215 (80.8%) experienced clinical failure. CRAB fitness ranged from 5.23 to 10.08 log CFU/g. The odds of clinical failure increased by 62% for every 1-log CFU/g increase in fitness (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.04-2.52). After adjusting for age, Charlson score, SOFA score and acquisition in the intensive care unit, fitness remained significant (adjusted OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.03-2.59). CRAB fitness had a similar effect on 14-day mortailty, although the association was not statistically significant (OR 1.56, 95% CI 0.95-2.57). It became significant after adjusting for age, Charlson score, SOFA score and recent surgery (adjusted OR 1.88, 95% CI 1.09-3.25). In vivo CRAB fitness was associated with clinical failure in patients with CRAB infection.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 15-04-2008
DOI: 10.1086/529523
Abstract: Background and methodsThe SMART study compared 2 strategies for using antiretroviral therapy—drug conservation (DC) and viral suppression (VS)—in 5472 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–infected patients with CD4+ cell counts & cells/μL. Rates and predictors of opportunistic disease or death (OD/death) and the relative risk (RR) in DC versus VS groups according to the latest CD4+ cell count and HIV RNA level are reported ResultsDuring a mean of 16 months of follow-up, DC patients spent more time with a latest CD4+ cell count & cells/μL (for DC vs. VS, 31% vs. 8%) and with a latest HIV RNA level & copies/mL (71% vs. 28%) and had a higher rate of OD/death (3.4 vs. 1.3/100 person-years) than VS patients. For periods of follow-up with a CD4+ cell count & cells/μL, rates of OD/death were increased but similar in the 2 groups (5.7 vs. 4.6/100 person-years), whereas the rates were higher in DC versus VS patients (2.3 vs. 1.0/100 person-years RR, 2.3 [95% confidence interval, 1.5–3.4]) for periods with the latest CD4+ cell count ⩾350 cells/μL—an increase explained by the higher HIV RNA levels in the DC group ConclusionsThe higher risk of OD/death in DC patients was associated with (1) spending more follow-up time with relative immunodeficiency and (2) living longer with uncontrolled HIV replication even at higher CD4+ cell counts. Ongoing HIV replication at a given CD4+ cell count places patients at an excess risk of OD/death Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00027352
Publisher: American College of Physicians
Date: 02-09-2008
DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-149-5-200809020-00003
Abstract: Episodic use of antiretroviral therapy guided by CD4+ cell counts is inferior to continuous antiretroviral therapy. To determine whether reinitiating continuous antiretroviral therapy in patients who received episodic treatment reduces excess risk for opportunistic disease or death. Randomized, controlled trial. Sites in 33 countries. 5472 HIV-infected in iduals with CD4(+) cell counts greater than 0.350 x 10(9) cells/L enrolled from January 2002 to January 2006. Episodic or continuous antiretroviral therapy initially, followed by continuous therapy in participants previously assigned to episodic treatment. Opportunistic disease or death was the primary outcome. Eighteen months after the recommendation to reinitiate continuous therapy, mean CD4+ cell counts were 0.152 x 10(9) cells/L (95% CI, 0.136 to 0.167 x 10(9) cells/L) less in participants previously assigned to episodic treatment (P < 0.001). The proportion of follow-up time spent with CD4+ cell counts of 0.500 x 10(9) cells/L or more and HIV RNA levels of 400 copies/mL or less was 29% for participants initially assigned to episodic therapy and 66% for those assigned to continuous therapy. Participants who reinitiated continuous therapy experienced rapid suppression of HIV RNA levels (89.7% with HIV RNA levels < or =400 copies/mL after 6 months), but CD4+ cell counts after 6 months remained 0.140 x 10(9) cells/L below baseline. The hazard ratio (episodic versus continuous treatment) for opportunistic disease or death decreased after the recommendation to reinitiate continuous therapy (from 2.5 [CI, 1.8 to 3.5] to 1.4 [CI, 1.0 to 2.0] P = 0.033 for difference). The residual excess risk was attributable to failure to reinitiate therapy by some participants and slow recovery of CD4+ cell counts for those who reinitiated therapy. Follow-up was too short to assess the full effect of switching from episodic to continuous antiretroviral therapy. Reinitiating continuous antiretroviral therapy in patients previously assigned to episodic treatment reduced excess risk for opportunistic disease or death, but excess risk remained. Episodic antiretroviral therapy, as used in the SMART study, should be avoided.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-05-2017
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-10-2015
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 08-03-2017
Abstract: The striking resemblance of long-snouted aquatic mammals and reptiles has long been considered an ex le of morphological convergence, yet the true cause of this similarity remains untested. We addressed this deficit through three-dimensional morphometric analysis of the full ersity of crocodilian and toothed whale (Odontoceti) skull shapes. Our focus on biomechanically important aspects of shape allowed us to overcome difficulties involved in comparing mammals and reptiles, which have fundamental differences in the number and position of skull bones. We examined whether diet, habitat and prey size correlated with skull shape using phylogenetically informed statistical procedures. Crocodilians and toothed whales have a similar range of skull shapes, varying from extremely short and broad to extremely elongate. This spectrum of shapes represented more of the total variation in our dataset than between phylogenetic groups. The most elongate species (river dolphins and gharials) are extremely convergent in skull shape, clustering outside of the range of the other taxa. Our results suggest the remarkable convergence between long-snouted river dolphins and gharials is driven by diet rather than physical factors intrinsic to riverine environments. Despite erging approximately 288 million years ago, crocodilians and odontocetes have evolved a remarkably similar morphological solution to feeding on similar prey.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.JTBI.2012.01.030
Abstract: The ability to warp three-dimensional (3D) meshes from known biological morphology to fit other known, predicted or hypothetical morphologies has a range of potential applications in functional morphology and biomechanics. One of the most challenging of these applications is Finite Element Analysis (FEA), a potentially powerful non-destructive tool in the prediction of mechanical behaviour. Geometric morphometrics is another typically computer-based approach commonly applied in morphological studies that allows for shape differences between specimens to be quantified and analysed. There has been some integration of these two fields in recent years. Although a number of shape warping approaches have been developed previously, none are easily accessible. Here we present an easily accessed method for warping meshes based on freely available software and test the effectiveness of the approach in FEA using the varanoid lizard mandible as a model. We further present new statistical approaches, strain frequency plots and landmark point strains, to analyse FEA results quantitatively and further integrate FEA with geometric morphometrics. Using strain frequency plots, strain field, bending displacements and landmark point strain data we demonstrate that the mechanical behaviour of warped specimens reproduces that of targets without significant error. The influence of including internal cavity morphology in FEA models was also examined and shown to increase bending displacements and strain magnitudes in FE models. The warping approaches presented here will be useful in a range of applications including the generation and analysis of virtual reconstructions, generic models that approximate species means, hypothetical morphologies and evolutionary intermediaries.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2011
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-08-2023
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
Date: 07-2016
DOI: 10.1128/AAC.00365-16
Abstract: The spread of extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) is leading to increased carbapenem consumption. Alternatives to carbapenems need to be investigated. We investigated whether β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor (BLBLI) combinations are as effective as carbapenems in the treatment of bloodstream infections (BSI) due to ESBL-E. A multinational, retrospective cohort study was performed. Patients with monomicrobial BSI due to ESBL-E were studied specific criteria were applied for inclusion of patients in the empirical-therapy (ET) cohort (ETC 365 patients), targeted-therapy (TT) cohort (TTC 601 patients), and global cohort (GC 627 patients). The main outcome variables were cure/improvement rate at day 14 and all-cause 30-day mortality. Multivariate analysis, propensity scores (PS), and sensitivity analyses were used to control for confounding. The cure/improvement rates with BLBLIs and carbapenems were 80.0% and 78.9% in the ETC and 90.2% and 85.5% in the TTC, respectively. The 30-day mortality rates were 17.6% and 20% in the ETC and 9.8% and 13.9% in the TTC, respectively. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) values for cure/improvement rate with ET with BLBLIs were 1.37 (0.69 to 2.76) for TT, they were 1.61 (0.58 to 4.86). Regarding 30-day mortality, the adjusted OR (95% CI) values were 0.55 (0.25 to 1.18) for ET and 0.59 (0.19 to 1.71) for TT. The results were consistent in all subgroups studied, in a stratified analysis according to quartiles of PS, in PS-matched cases, and in the GC. BLBLIs, if active in vitro , appear to be as effective as carbapenems for ET and TT of BSI due to ESLB-E regardless of the source and specific species. These data may help to avoid the overuse of carbapenems. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT01764490.)
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.JBIOMECH.2017.03.003
Abstract: Unrelated clades of aquatic tetrapod have evolved a similar range of skull shapes, varying from longirostrine (elongate and narrow rostrum) to brevirostrine (short rostrum). However, it is unclear which aspects of organismal performance are associated with this convergence in the range of skull shapes. Furthermore, it is not known how fundamental anatomical differences between groups influence these relationships. Here we address this by examining the load bearing capabilities of the skulls of two of the most erse groups of living aquatic tetrapod: crocodilians and odontocetes. We use finite element analysis to examine the abilities of different cranial morphologies to resist a range of biologically relevant feeding loads including biting, shaking and twisting. The results allow for form/function relationships to be compared and contrasted between the two groups. We find that cranial shape has similar influences on performance during biting, shaking or twisting load cases at the anterior tooth positions, e.g. brevirostrine species experienced less strain than longirostrine species. The pattern of this form/function relationship is similar for both crocodilians and odontocetes, despite their fundamentally different anatomies. However, when loading teeth at the posterior end or middle of the tooth row the results do not follow the same pattern. Behavioural differences in bite location plays a key role in determining functional abilities in aquatic tetrapod taxa.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-04-2023
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 31-03-2015
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 02-06-2015
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.988
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 25-10-2017
DOI: 10.1093/OFID/OFX228
Abstract: Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) mediated tryptophan (TRP) depletion has antimicrobial and immuno-regulatory effects. Increased kynurenine (KYN)-to-TRP (KT) ratios, reflecting increased IDO activity, have been associated with poorer outcomes from several infections. We performed a case-control (1:2 age and sex matched) analysis of adults hospitalized with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 with protocol-defined disease progression (died/transferred to ICU/mechanical ventilation) after enrollment (cases) or survived without progression (controls) over 60 days of follow-up. Conditional logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between baseline KT ratio and other metabolites and disease progression. We included 32 cases and 64 controls with a median age of 52 years 41% were female, and the median durations of influenza symptoms prior to hospitalization were 8 and 6 days for cases and controls, respectively (P = .04). Median baseline KT ratios were 2-fold higher in cases (0.24 mM/M IQR, 0.13–0.40) than controls (0.12 IQR, 0.09–0.17 P ≤ .001). When ided into tertiles, 59% of cases vs 20% of controls had KT ratios in the highest tertile (0.21–0.84 mM/M). When adjusted for symptom duration, the odds ratio for disease progression for those in the highest vs lowest tertiles of KT ratio was 9.94 (95% CI, 2.25–43.90). High KT ratio was associated with poor outcome in adults hospitalized with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09. The clinical utility of this biomarker in this setting merits further exploration. NCT01056185.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2017
DOI: 10.1111/HIV.12567
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 25-09-2022
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 05-11-2013
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.204
Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society
Date: 05-11-2020
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 15-04-2008
DOI: 10.1086/586713
Abstract: The SMART study randomized 5,472 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with CD4+ cell counts >350 cells/microL to intermittent antiretroviral therapy (ART the drug conservation [DC] group) versus continuous ART (the viral suppression [VS] group). In the DC group, participants started ART when the CD4+ cell count was or= 6 months (n=228) were analyzed. The following clinical outcomes were assessed: (i) opportunistic disease (OD) or death from any cause (OD/death) (ii) OD (fatal or nonfatal) (iii) serious non-AIDS events (cardiovascular, renal, and hepatic disease plus non-AIDS-defining cancers) and non-OD deaths and (iv) the composite of outcomes (ii) and (iii). A total of 477 participants (228 in the DC group and 249 in the VS group) were followed (mean, 18 months). For outcome (iv), 21 and 6 events occurred in the DC (7 in ART-naive participants and 14 in those who had not received ART for >or= 6 months) and VS (2 in ART-naive participants and 4 in those who had not received ART for 6 months) groups, respectively. Hazard ratios for DC vs. VS by outcome category were as follows: outcome (i), 3.47 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.26-9.56 p=.02) outcome (ii), 3.26 (95% CI, 1.04-10.25 p=.04) outcome (iii), 7.02 (95% CI, 1.57-31.38 p=.01) and outcome (iv), 4.19 (95% CI, 1.69-10.39 p=.002 ). Initiation of ART at CD4+ cell counts >350 cells/microL compared with <250 cells/microL may reduce both OD and serious non-AIDS events. These findings require validation in a large, randomized clinical trial.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2022
DOI: 10.1111/PALA.12629
Abstract: Temnospondyli are a morphologically varied and ecologically erse clade of tetrapods that survived for over 200 million years. The body mass of temnospondyls is a key variable in inferring their ecological, physiological and biomechanical attributes. However, estimating the body mass of these extinct creatures has proven difficult because the group has no extant descendants. Here we apply a wide range of body mass estimation techniques developed for tetrapods to the iconic temnospondyls Paracyclotosaurus davidi and Eryops megacephalus . These same methods are also applied to a collection of extant organisms that serve as ecological and morphological analogues. These include the giant salamanders Andrias japonicus and Andrias davidianus , the tiger salamander Ambystoma tigrinum , the California newt Taricha torosa and the saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus porosus . We find that several methods can provide accurate mass estimations across this range of living taxa, suggesting their suitability for estimating the body masses of temnospondyls. Based on this, we estimate the mass of Paracyclotosaurus to have been between 159 and 365 kg, and that of Eryops between 102 and 222 kg. These findings provide a basis for examining body size evolution in this clade across their entire temporal span.
Location: United States of America
Start Date: 05-2023
End Date: 05-2026
Amount: $386,379.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
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