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Collaboration with parents/carers in KidsMatter school
Get PDFCopyright ©2017 Sense Publishers. Reproduced with permission of the publisher
Leptin signals via TGFB1 to promote metastatic potential and stemness in breast cancer
Get PDFThis is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Epidemiological studies have shown obesity to be linked with poorer outcomes in breast cancer patients. The molecular mechanisms responsible for the increased risk of invasive/metastatic disease with obesity are complex, but may include elevated levels of adipokines such as leptin. Using physiological levels of leptin found in obesity in a novel chronic in vitro treatment model (≤200 ng/ml for 14 days), we confirmed the occurrence of leptin-mediated changes in growth, apoptosis and metastatic behavior, and gene expression changes representing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and a cancer stem cell (CSC) like phenotype in breast epithelial and cancer cell lines (MCF10A, MCF10AT1, MCF7 and MDA-MB-231). Further, we have discovered that these effects were accompanied by increased expression of TGFB1, and could be significantly reduced by co-treatment with neutralizing antibody against TGFB1, indicating that the induction of these characteristics was mediated via TGFB1. Occurring in both MCF7 and MCF10AT1 cells, it suggests these actions of leptin to be independent of estrogen receptor status. By linking leptin signalling to the established TGFB1 pathway of metastasis / EMT, this study gives a direct mechanism by which leptin can contribute to the poorer outcomes of obese cancer patients. Inhibitors of TGFB1 are in currently in phase III clinical trials in other malignancies, thus identifying the connection between leptin and TGFB1 will open new therapeutic opportunities for improving outcomes for obese breast cancer patients
A world of rural health sharing ideas for the future workforce policy, education and practice
Get PDFOriginally published by Australasian Medical Journal. Reproduced in accordance with publisher's copyright policy.This Editorial Highlights about the World of Rural Health Conference which is going to be held at Cairns in April 2017
Commentary: A “Source” of Error: Computer Code, Criminal Defendants, and the Constitution
Get PDFThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Chessman (2017) warns of the current trend to admit into court unchallenged the results of complex computerized calculations. He provides a number of examples and arguments claimed to demonstrate the need for open source software to remove the “black box” element. We agree with parts of this sentiment, and the topic of this special issue, that there is a danger with those using and receiving information from black box systems
Validation of DESS as a DNA Preservation Method for the Detection of Strongyloides spp. in Canine Feces
Get PDFThis article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Abstract: Strongyloides stercoralis is a gastrointestinal parasitic nematode with a life cycle that includes free-living and parasitic forms. For both clinical (diagnostic) and environmental evaluation, it is important that we can detect Strongyloides spp. in both human and non-human fecal samples. Real-time PCR is the most feasible method for detecting the parasite in both clinical and environmental samples that have been preserved. However, one of the biggest challenges with PCR detection is DNA degradation during the postage time from rural and remote areas to the laboratory. This study included a laboratory assessment and field validation of DESS (dimethyl sulfoxide, disodium EDTA, and saturated NaCl) preservation of Strongyloides spp. DNA in fecal samples. The laboratory study investigated the capacity of 1:1 and 1:3 sample to DESS ratios to preserve Strongyloides ratti in spike canine feces. It was found that both ratios of DESS significantly prevented DNA degradation compared to the untreated sample. This method was then validated by applying it to the field-collected canine feces and detecting Strongyloides DNA using PCR. A total of 37 canine feces samples were collected and preserved in the 1:3 ratio (sample: DESS) and of these, 17 were positive for Strongyloides spp. The study shows that both 1:1 and 1:3 sample to DESS ratios were able to preserve the Strongyloides spp. DNA in canine feces samples stored at room temperature for up to 56 days. This DESS preservation method presents the most applicable and feasible method for the Strongyloides DNA preservation in field-collected feces
Dirges and Sad Ditties from Jane Austen's Music Collection [concert program]
No full textProgram for closing concert of Immortal Austen conference (Adelaide: July 2017) presented by Flinders University. Performers were Gillian Dooley, Nicola Hardie Beveridge, Chris Rawlinson, Kirstine Moffat and Alistair Knight. The music was selected from the Austen Family Music Collection. Includes extensive program notes
Modelling the complexity of technology adoption in higher education teaching practice
Get PDFThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Files include Conference Paper (PDF); Conference presentation/recording (MP4); and Demonstration video of the modelling method (MP4). The author would like to acknowledge the contribution of Prof Heather Smigiel (Flinders Uni) and Prof Jim Levin (UCSD Dept of Education Studies). Recommended citation: White, I. M. (2017). Modelling the complexity of technology adoption in higher education teaching practice. Paper presented to The Higher Education Technology Agenda (THETA) 2017 biennial conference. Auckland, 7-10 May.This study examines the adoption of digital technologies in higher education teaching practice, commonly known as elearning, and investigates what needs to change in universities to support the wider adoption of faculty-originated elearning innovations. These are innovations originated by education technology enthusiasts and visionaries in universities who apply new ways of using digital technologies in their own teaching practice. Yet, even when these elearning innovations are evaluated as beneficial in teaching and learning, very few gain wider adoption within the mainstream of university teaching.
How to achieve mainstream adoption of these innovations is widely acknowledged as a complex problem. Firstly it involves four university system stakeholders, (1) individual innovators and (2) adopters in higher education teaching roles and the institutional roles of (3) management and (4) central support services, who are the actors in this process. Secondly, a wide range of causal factors have been identified in case studies and surveys that enable and inhibit the sustainable diffusion of elearning innovations. Understanding the complex dynamic relationships between these university system actors and these causal factors is the focus for this doctoral study.
To investigate this dynamic complexity, this study uses a computer simulation to model the critical relationships between university actors, associated causal factors and levels of influence in the technology adoption process. In the computer modelling process, the first-hand experiences of different university actors are applied in interviews to connect and explore enabling and inhibiting factors and levels of influence across the four stakeholder groups. The resulting computer model provides a view of a whole university system that reveals the critical relationships between these stakeholders. The modelling process, demonstrated in this presentation, extends the findings from previous case studies and surveys to reveal and rethink the critical relationships between university system stakeholders in a complex and changing environment
Mechanisms underlying a thalamocortical transformation during active tactile sensation
Get PDFThis is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.During active somatosensation, neural signals expected from movement of the sensors are suppressed in the cortex, whereas information related to touch is enhanced. This tactile suppression underlies low-noise encoding of relevant tactile features and the brain’s ability to make fine tactile discriminations. Layer (L) 4 excitatory neurons in the barrel cortex, the major target of the somatosensory thalamus (VPM), respond to touch, but have low spike rates and low sensitivity to the movement of whiskers. Most neurons in VPM respond to touch and also show an increase in spike rate with whisker movement. Therefore, signals related to self-movement are suppressed in L4. Fast-spiking (FS) interneurons in L4 show similar dynamics to VPM neurons. Stimulation of halorhodopsin in FS interneurons causes a reduction in FS neuron activity and an increase in L4 excitatory neuron activity. This decrease of activity of L4 FS neurons contradicts the "paradoxical effect" predicted in networks stabilized by inhibition and in strongly-coupled networks. To explain these observations, we constructed a model of the L4 circuit, with connectivity constrained by in vitro measurements. The model explores the various synaptic conductance strengths for which L4 FS neurons actively suppress baseline and movement-related activity in layer 4 excitatory neurons. Feedforward inhibition, in concert with recurrent intracortical circuitry, produces tactile suppression. Synaptic delays in feedforward inhibition allow transmission of temporally brief volleys of activity associated with touch. Our model provides a mechanistic explanation of a behavior-related computation implemented by the thalamocortical circuit
Lateral habenula regulation of emotional hyperthermia: mediation via the medullary raphé
Get PDFThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.The lateral habenula (LHb) has an important role in the behavioural response to salient, usually aversive, events. We previously demonstrated that activation of neurons in the LHb increases brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis and constricts the cutaneous vascular bed, indicating that the LHb contributes to the central control of sympathetic outflow to thermoregulatory effector organs. We have now investigated whether the LHb mediates BAT thermogenesis elicited by emotional stress, and whether the LHb modulates thermoregulatory sympathetic outflow via the rostral medullary raphé, a key integrative lower brainstem sympathetic control centre. In conscious animals, lesioning the LHb attenuated emotional BAT thermogenesis, suggesting that the LHb is part of the central circuitry mediating emotional hyperthermia. In anesthetized animals, inhibition of neurons in the rostral medullary raphé reversed BAT thermogenesis and cutaneous vasoconstriction elicited by activation of neurons in the LHb, indicating that the LHb-induced autonomic responses are mediated through activation of the rostral medullary raphé neurons. The latency to activate BAT sympathetic discharge from electrical stimulation of the LHb was substantially greater than the corresponding latency after stimulation of the medullary raphé, suggesting that the neuronal pathway connecting those two nuclei is quite indirect
Investigation of length heteroplasmy in mitochondrial DNA control region by massively parallel sequencing
Get PDF© 2017 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (July 2017) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyAccurate sequencing of the control region of the mitochondrial genome is notoriously difficult due to the presence of polycytosine bases, termed C-tracts. The precise number of bases that constitute a C-tract and the bases beyond the poly cytosines may not be accurately defined when analyzing Sanger sequencing data separated by capillary electrophoresis. Massively parallel sequencing has the potential to resolve such poor definition and provides the opportunity to discover variants due to length heteroplasmy. In this study, the control region of mitochondrial genomes from 20 samples was sequenced using both standard Sanger methods with separation by capillary electrophoresis and also using massively parallel DNA sequencing technology. After comparison of the two sets of generated sequence, with the exception of the C-tracts where length heteroplasmy was observed, all sequences were concordant. Sequences of three segments 16184–16193, 303–315 and 568–573 with C-tracts in HVI, II and III can be clearly defined from the massively parallel sequencing data using the program SEQ Mapper. Multiple sequence variants were observed in the length of C-tracts longer than 7 bases. Our report illustrates the accurate designation of all the length variants leading to heteroplasmy in the control region of the mitochondrial genome that can be determined by SEQ Mapper based on data generated by massively parallel DNA sequencing