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Modelling steroidogenesis: a framework model to support hypothesis generation and testing across endocrine studies
No full textObjective: Steroid hormones are responsible for the control of a wide range of physiological processes such as development, growth, reproduction, metabolism, and aging. Because of the variety of enzymes, substrates and products that take part in steroidogenesis and the compartmentalisation of its constituent reactions, it is a complex process to visualise and document. One of the goals of systems biology is to quantitatively describe the behaviour of complex biological systems that involve the interaction of many components. This can be done by representing these interactions visually in a pathway model and then optionally constructing a mathematical model of the interactions. Results: We have used the modified Edinburgh Pathway Notation to construct a framework diagram describing human steroidogenic pathways, which will be of use to endocrinologists. To demonstrate further utility, we show how such models can be parameterised with empirical data within the software Graphia Professional, to recapitulate specific examples of steroid hormone production, and also to mimic gene knockout. These framework models support in silico hypothesis generation and testing with utility across endocrine endpoints, with significant potential to reduce costs, time and animal numbers, whilst informing the design of planned studies
The changing professional identity of pre-service technology education students
No full textIf a preservice technology teacher to teach technology education using a holistic approach, then the advancement of their professional identity as a technology teacher will be reliant upon the grasping of essential technology education concepts. This is a part of a larger study, which examines the transition of a pre-service Technology Education teacher during their pre service program. It records their journey from their initial identity as a trade worker; tracing their identity, knowledge, skill, values and attitudes development during their first encounter in a school as a pre-service secondary Technology teacher. This study demonstrates how the developing professional teacher identity is impacted within the Technology Foundation Course and identifies the factors causing the greatest
change. The focal lens is on the coursework and the authentic activity, including the Technology Day which leads to a solid understanding of Technology Education. It uses personal folio’s, online reflective journaling and interviews as a way to trace the professional identity change and the results are presented using the Logic Framework Model. This paper discusses significant changes in the students’ professional identity and this has significant implication for the training of secondary teachers
Food addiction support: website content analysis
No full textBackground: Food addiction has a long history; however, there has been a substantial increase in published literature and public media focus in the past decade. Food addiction has previously demonstrated an overlap with overweight and obesity, a risk for cardiovascular disease. This increased focus has led to the establishment of numerous support options for addictive eating behaviors, yet evidence-based support options are lacking. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the availability and content of support options, accessible online, for food addiction. Methods: A standardized Web search was conducted using 4 search engines to identify current support availability for food addiction. Through use of a comprehensive data extraction sheet, 2 reviewers independently extracted data related to the program or intervention characteristics, and support fidelity including fundamentals, support modality, social support offered, program or intervention origins, member numbers, and program or intervention evaluation. Results: Of the 800 records retrieved, 13 (1.6%, 13/800) websites met the inclusion criteria. All 13 websites reported originating in the United States, and 1 website reported member numbers. The use of credentialed health professionals was reported by only 3 websites, and 5 websites charged a fee-for-service. The use of the 12 steps or traditions was evident in 11 websites, and 9 websites described the use of food plans. In total, 6 websites stated obligatory peer support, and 11 websites featured spirituality as a main theme of delivery. Moreover, 12 websites described phone meetings as the main program delivery modality, with 7 websites stating face-to-face delivery and 4 opting for online meetings. Newsletters (n=5), closed social media groups (n=5), and retreat programs (n=5) were the most popular forms of social support. Conclusions: This is the first review to analyze online support options for food addiction. Very few online support options include health professionals, and a strengthening argument is forming for an increase in support options for food addiction. This review forms part of this argument by showing a lack of evidence-based options. By reviewing current support availability, it can provide a guide toward the future development of evidence-based support for food addiction
Project Breastfeeding: "If I Could, I Would"
No full textIn this issue: NEWS: The Australian Fatherhood Research Consortium - Australian Fatherhood Research Symposium - ON THE WEB: Fathers and pregnancy (Vaders en zwangerschap) in Mozambique - The Milk Man mobile app intervention - PROGRAMS AND FATHER INCLUSIVE PRACTICE: Mellow Dads - An attachment-based parenting intervention in Scotland - A personal note about barriers to father involvement - Providing support for fathers in their grief - CONFERENCES WEBINARS COURSES: Postgraduate Course: Working with vulnerable fathers - RESEARCH: Exploring the role and influence of fathers on infant feeding decisions and practices - The nuances of dads' influences on their children - Engaging fathers in perinatal services - ONGOING RESEARCH: The "What About New Dads?" study - Support for fathers project - RESEARCHERS PROFILE: Dr Dawson Cooke (Curtin University, Faculty of Heath Science
Learning through reflection. SPROUT: a schema to teach reflective practice
No full textIncorporating reflection into practice is an essential acquired skill and has been linked to the strengthening of professional identity, where the ability to reflect is essentially the development of self-awareness; a way of thinking and ultimately learning from experience. The authors introduce the acronym SPROUT as a structure for higher education students who are learning to be reflective learners. The acronym represents a schema for written and oral approaches and is designed to support professional development in multiple contexts. SPROUT is formed by combining the initial letters of the component words and serves to simplify the complexity of a multipart process to be enacted when being reflective. As a mnemonic device SPROUT represents Situation, Past experience, Read and Refer, Other influences, Understanding and Take it Forward. Following the implementation of SPROUT with a 1st year Bachelor of Nursing cohort, reflective scripts were reviewed for content and quality. Additionally educators provided feedback. Preliminary conclusions about the efficacy of this approach for learning to be reflective suggest that students were demonstrating a developing self-awareness
Exploring novel application of tissue engineering strategies to human myometrium
No full textUnderstanding human uterine smooth muscle cell interactions within tissue and their cellular mechanisms are important to completely understand how the human uterus generates the contractions of labour. Research insights into uterine function and the mechanisms of labour have been hindered by the lack of suitable animal and cellular models. The use of traditional culturing methods limits the exploration of complex uterine functions, such as cell interactions, connectivity and contractile behaviour, as it fails to mimic the three-dimensional (3D) nature of uterine cell interactions in vivo. Animal models are an option; however, use of these models is constrained by ethical considerations as well as translational limitations to humans.
Evidence indicates that these limitations can be overcome by using 3D culture systems, or 3D Bioprinters, to model the in vivo cytological architecture of the tissue in an in vivo environment. Artificially created tissue can not only be used as an appropriate model in which to study cellular function and organisation but could also be used for regenerative medicine purposes including organ or tissue transplantation, organ donation and obstetric care. In model systems, the tissue-level mechanisms are most dependent upon which cell type and whether 2D or 3D culture techniques are used. In order to model uterine systems, it is essential to have an in-depth knowledge of gene expression, protein profiles, and proliferation characteristics of term myometrial tissue and that of the cell types that might be used in culture. However, there are only a few studies in these areas. In this thesis, these major limitations are addressed by introducing novel studies and methods to human myometrial tissue engineering. Firstly, with a focus on providing a base line in 2D culture as a comparison for 3D culture studies, three commonly used cellular models: primary myometrial, hTERT, and PHM cells were used. Expression of contraction-associated proteins (CAPs) and genes in cell models were identified by performing RT-PCR and confocal immunofluorescence. Furthermore, principal component analysis was performed to compare gene profiles of these cells to term, non-labouring myometrium. The analysis indicated that PHM and primary cells have 2D profiles closer to term non-labouring myometrium, however, protein expression profiles of primary and hTERT cells are more similar to myometrium. Gene and protein profiles of the three 2D cell culture models became of the baseline for interpretation of the 3D culturing studies. Ultimately, these cells will provide the ability to investigate mechanisms underlying human labour and mimic the in vivo 3D environment of myometrial cells. 3D culture of cells and 3D printing of cell structures requires large numbers of cells to provide an appropriate environment for cell adhesion, proliferation, migration and differentiation within the culture. Primary myometrial smooth muscle cells obtained from uterine biopsies have limited proliferative capacities, which slow the process of culturing these cells. Preparing and developing 3D models of myometrial tissue may therefore necessitate the use of alternative sources of cells in order to provide sufficient numbers of functional SMCs that can be cultured in a short time. To this end, TGF-β1 and vitamin C were introduced to the culturing of primary myometrial, hTERT and PHM cells in order to move the CAPs expression profile in these cells toward those of in vivo myometrium. Results suggested that alterations of the gene expression profile occurred when primary myometrial, hTERT and PHM cells were stimulated by TGF-β1, whereas vitamin C had minimal impact on cellular differentiation. Secondly, the survivability of commonly used uterine smooth muscle cells in 3D culturing systems was assessed. Each scaffolding method has its own properties. Thus, the feasibility of culturing cells on a variety of scaffolds (4 different types) to form 3D structure was tested. Cells were cultured on Nanofiber inserts, glass wool and AlgiMatrix and microscopic observations showed cellular proliferation and migration in 3D. Although, their functionality remained unanswered, as they did not respond to contraction agonists or tension stimuli in contraction bioassay. Changing the strategy by reconstructing myometrial tissue strips from primary myometrial cells or explants resulted in contractile strips, but no phasic contractions was recorded. Thirdly, the innovative approach of decellularising human myometrial tissue was applies to facilitate the development of a normal tissue 3D architecture. The decellularised scaffolds were repopulated with primary myometrial, hTERT and PHM cells, and the scaffold suitability for cell culture experimentation and cellular adhesion, proliferation and migration was confirmed with immunohistochemistry. However, non-transparency of human myometrial tissue is an obstacle in depicting a detailed picture of tissue structure for tissue engineering purposes. Fourthly and finally, for the first time, human myometrium was optically cleared by removing lipids, while preserving cellular structure and network. This was to provide better insight into myometrial interactions with the structural elements of the uterine tissue; that might influence uterine function and contraction during pregnancy and labour. The study describes initial steps toward creating human uterine tissue. Merging biological principles with engineering in an interdisciplinary area is an appropriate platform to develop myometrial tissue engineering
Optimal air-conditioning load control in distribution network with intermittent renewables
No full textThe coordinated operation of controllable loads, such as air-conditioning load, and distributed generation sources in a smart grid environment has drawn significant attention in recent years. To improve the wind power utilization level in the distribution network and minimize the total system operation costs, this paper proposes a MILP (mixed integer linear programming) based approach to schedule the interruptible air-conditioning loads. In order to mitigate the uncertainties of the stochastic variables including wind power generation, ambient temperature change, and electricity retail price, the rolling horizon optimization (RHO) strategy is employed to continuously update the real-time information and proceed the control window. Moreover, to ensure the thermal comfort of customers, a novel two-parameter thermal model is introduced to calculate the indoor temperature variation more precisely. Simulations on a five node radial distribution network validate the efficiency of the proposed method
Porous borders: the passport as an access metaphor in Laurence Sterne's 'A Sentimental Journey'
No full textLaurence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy (1768) includes among its scenes and vignettes a suite of chapters devoted to what would later, in the wake of the French Revolution, become a standard motif of British travel writing: the passport, seen both as an instrument of control and as a means of gaining access to otherwise restricted territories. When reconstructed without the jumbled chronology that characterizes Sterne’s fiction, this episode relates how the whimsical narrator, Yorick, forgot to procure a valid travel document for himself prior to his precipitous departure for France, and how he eventually makes up for this neglect with the help of a well-connected count at Versailles. In purely narrative terms, it plays only a minor role in a book that, as indicated by the title, is more concerned with the emotional than the epic aspects of travel. Arguably, Yorick’s passport
predicament serves simply as a pretext for introducing another suite of sentimental scenes, beginning with that of the encaged starling, evocative of the confined existence of a prisoner, and concluding with the narrator’s successful attempt to identify himself to the count by gesturing towards the gravedigger scene in Hamlet, which features the skull of his namesake, the late court jester. Yet, as I argue in this essay, the significance of the passport
episode goes far beyond this narrative function
Building information modelling (BIM) system in construction in 2020: opportunities and implications
No full textInformation Technology (IT) is an essential catalyst for effecting improvements in the construction industry. Despite the growth and acceptance of IT in the industry, construction remains slow to adapt the capacity of change proffered by Building Information Modelling (BIM) System as well as exploit the diverse range of opportunities this IT innovation promises. This study explores the trends, applications and opportunities of BIM in construction in the 21st century with projections to 2020. The implications of these opportunities are also reviewed and possible constraints and challenges are identified. Finally areas for further research are explored
The survival benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and pCR among patients with advanced stage triple negative breast cancer
No full textTriple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype that accounts for 15-20% of cases, with a higher incidence of relapse/death. Even with adjuvant chemotherapy, the 5 year distant metastasis-free survival rate remains low. A total of 452 tumor registry patients with TNBC and no evidence of metastatic disease were identified over the period of 1996-2011. The median age and follow-up time were 51 (range=21-88) and 3.9 (range=0.14-14) years. Approximately 75% of patients with stage III disease received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) compared with 47% for stage II. Patients with stage I disease predominantly received adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT). Among those who underwent NACT (n=202), 33% had a pathological complete response (pCR). Overall (OS) and disease-free (DFS) survival were significantly longer among patients achieving pCR (versus residual disease) following NACT (OS: all patients P < 0.0001, stage II P < 0.0001, stage III P=0.0062; DFS: all patients P < 0.0001, stage II P=0.0011, stage III P=0.015). ACT was not associated with improved OS or DFS for stage III disease. Adjustment for age, chemotherapy, health insurance type, lymphovascular invasion, race, radiation, and surgery did not alter our results. These findings suggest that pCR following NACT is associated with improved survival among patients with TNBC, independent of diagnostic stage