Tear Lactoferrin and Lysozyme as Clinically Relevant Biomarkers of Mucosal Immune Competence

Tears have attracted interest as a minimally-invasive biological fluid from which to assess biomarkers. Lactoferrin (Lf) and lysozyme (Lys) are abundant in the tear fluid and have antimicrobial properties. Since the eye is a portal for infection transmission, assessment of immune status at the ocular surface may be clinically relevant. Therefore, the aim of this series of studies was to investigate the tear fluid antimicrobial proteins (AMPs) Lf and Lys as biomarkers of mucosal immune status. To be considered biomarkers of interest, we would expect tear AMPs to respond to stressors known to perturb immunity but be robust to confounding variables, and to be lower in participants with heightened risk or incidence of illness. We investigated the relationship between tear AMPs and upper respiratory tract infection (URTI; study 1) as well as the response of tear AMPs to prolonged treadmill exercise (study 2) and dehydration (study 3). Study 1 was a prospective cohort study conducted during the common cold season whereas studies 2 and 3 used repeated-measures crossover designs. In study 1, tear Lys concentration (C) as well as tear AMP secretion rates (SRs) were lower in individuals who reported pathogen-confirmed URTI (n = 9) throughout the observation period than in healthy, pathogen-free controls (n = 17; Lys-C, P = 0.002, d = 0.85; Lys-SR, P < 0.001, d = 1.00; Lf-SR, P = 0.018, d = 0.66). Tear AMP secretion rates were also lower in contact lens wearers. In study 2, tear AMP SRs were 42-49% lower at 30 min-1 h post-exercise vs. pre-exercise (P < 0.001, d = 0.80-0.93). Finally, in study 3, tear AMPs were not influenced by dehydration, although tear AMP concentrations (but not secretion rates) displayed diurnal variation. We conclude that Lf and Lys have potential as biomarkers of mucosal immune competence; in particular, whether these markers are lower in infection-prone individuals warrants further investigation

Theoretical Perspectives: Researching the History of Adult Education and Learning in Women's Organisations in Australia

This paper aims to show the blend of theoretical perspectives employed to trace the way women have educated each other, both formally and informally, in a selection of non-government voluntary women's organisations in Australia. My thesis examines the way women's organisations constitute a site of learning for adult education, while identifying the women who have operated as educators within them, whether officially recognised as such or not. The research will also ascertain the extent of learning, whether intentional or incidental, which has taken place in the history of those organisations studied for the purposes of this work, and that which continues to occur. In addition, the amount of recognition of these organisations as sites of learning in the field of adult education will be explored. The work of Griff Foley (1999) is important in tracing the way learning takes place in the context of social action in such organisations

Evaluating the effectiveness of a resilience program for children and young people in a private Australian psychology clinic

There is increasing research into resilience enllancing intervention programs in young people. A number of international resilience-based group programs exist; however, few are within Australia. Two Australian resilience programs are the linked-Up (13-16 year-olds} and Connect-3 (8-12 year-olds} programs. They are Solution-Focused programs based on the Resilience Doughnut model. The current study assessed the effectiveness of these two programs by comparing pre- and post-measures of resilience and adversities. Participants were aged between 8-17 years. There were 70 participants in total, 40 males (57%} and 30 females (43%). Results show that the Connect-3 program built personal competency and reduced total difficulties within a non-clinical population. The linked-Up group showed no significant change in scores for pre-intervention to post-intervention. Future re­ search should aim to explore the effectiveness of the resilience programs within clinical populations or with young people who have increased risk of adversity. Future research should also consider how resilience could be enhanced in old­ er-adolescent populations

Changing Women: The Country Women's Association of NSW as a Learning Site

The paper investigates my research into the many and varied ways in which the Country Women's Association of New South Wales educates women in its membership, their families, and the wider public. My research utilises several areas of adult education theory to investigate the way women learn in, and are educated by, their service and leisure organisations. The CWA is one of the major focuses of the research and Mezirow's theory of transformative learning is emerging as a significant vehicle of change in the lives of its members. In addition to that, the social capital accrued by the CWA is bringing public recognition of the value and relevance of the organisation. This is especially so, at the time of this writing, with the recent broadcast of an ABC series on the CWA. In the paper I will show the way that the Country Women's Association is educating the public to transform its perception of a 'tea and scones' image to one of a relevant and active organisation. The renewed image is of a community of women which brings enrichment and even change to the lives of both rural and city members alike through the learning which takes place in their lives

Developing a Pilot Case and Modelling the Development of a Large European CO₂ Transport Infrastructure -The GATEWAY H2020 Project

The H2020 GATEWAY project aims to develop a comprehensive model Pilot Case which, intentionally, will pave the ground for CCS deployment in Europe. It will result from the assessment of, technical, commercial, judicial and societal issues related to a future CO2 transport infrastructure. The Pilot Case derived on this basis, will emphasize a gateway for CO2 transport in the North Sea Basin. Four potential pilot cases have been evaluated through a combination of techno-economic modelling of the individual cases and evaluation against more qualitative criteria. The chosen Pilot Case, Rotterdam Nucleus, will be refined and developed during the remaining period of the GATEWAY project. To maximise impact, the GATEWAY project adapts its work to lay the foundation for a future application to a European ‘Project of Common Interest’ (PCI). Continuous dialogue with the most relevant stakeholders is an important part of GATEWAY, as a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) H2020 project

The effect of variable oxygen impurities on microbial activity in conditions resembling geological storage sites

Current specifications on carbon dioxide (CO2) storage do not take into account the effect of oxygen (O2) present as an impurity, on storage site microbiology. Some microbiology related impacts related to the CCS process include the potential blockage of injection well, corrosion of pipes, oil souring and oil degradation. To investigate this, microcosm experiments were set up using the O2 concentrations of 0 ppm, 10 ppm, 100 ppm and atmospheric. Artificial groundwater and sandstone microcosms were inoculated with a mixed microbial community, incubated for 29 days and regularly sampled for gases produced and sampled at the end of the experiment to analyse the microbiology. Gas chromatography analysis of these microcosms showed no hydrogen sulphide (H2S) production and a variable amount of CO2 production. Microbial analysis of the microcosms show that the microbial inoculum (including sulphate reducing bacteria) was able to survive/grow better in the microcosms with 10 ppm and below compared to the higher levels of O2. The levels of CO2 for 100 ppm and atmospheric levels of O2 were similar indicating the introduction of 100 ppm of O2 could promote aerobic processes. This experiment has shown that small differences in O2 concentrations affects microbial communities relevant to geological storage sites which could cause operational issues. Further investigation is required to properly assess the effect of small O2 changes on H2S production

Brain choline concentrations may not be altered in euthymic bipolar disorder patients chronically treated with either lithium or sodium valproate

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that lithium increases choline concentrations, although previous human studies examining this possibility using (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) have had mixed results: some found increases while most found no differences. METHODS: The present study utilized (1)H MRS, in a 3 T scanner to examine the effects of both lithium and sodium valproate upon choline concentrations in treated euthymic bipolar patients utilizing two different methodologies. In the first part of the study healthy controls (n = 18) were compared with euthymic Bipolar Disorder patients (Type I and Type II) who were taking either lithium (n = 14) or sodium valproate (n = 11), and temporal lobe choline/creatine (Cho/Cr) ratios were determined. In the second part we examined a separate group of euthymic Bipolar Disorder Type I patients taking sodium valproate (n = 9) and compared these to controls (n = 11). Here we measured the absolute concentrations of choline in both temporal and frontal lobes. RESULTS: The results from the first part of the study showed that bipolar patients chronically treated with both lithium and sodium valproate had significantly reduced temporal lobe Cho/Cr ratios. In contrast, in the second part of the study, there were no effects of sodium valproate on either absolute choline concentrations or on Cho/Cr ratios in either temporal or frontal lobes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that measuring Cho/Cr ratios may not accurately reflect brain choline concentrations. In addition, the results do not support previous suggestions that either lithium or valproate increases choline concentrations in bipolar patients

Three layers of energy law for examining CO2 transport for carbon-capture and storage

This research is a legal analysis concerning four scenarios for cross-border carbon dioxide (CO2) transport that could increase the deployment of carbon-capture and storage (CCS) deployment in Europe. The legal analysis categorizes the law into three levels—international, national and local—and considers the four scenarios in light of these three levels of energy law. Upon reviewing the four scenarios, it is clear that the Rotterdam Nucleus (referred to as the ‘Pilot Case’) is the leading scenario and as a result it is explored in more detail. The potential Pilot Case is based on the development of Rotterdam (in the Netherlands) as a southern North Sea hub. Under this Rotterdam Nucleus scenario, captured CO2 will be transported through the Port of Rotterdam to depleted gas fields offshore the Netherlands. CO2 will also be transported through further links using CCS infrastructure to facilitate the processing of undeveloped gas fields offshore UK. The Pilot case contemplates further expansion opportunities, increasing the capture clusters through additional pipelines, expanding to further gas fields and using the port of Rotterdam for CO2 shipping—hence the analysis of the other scenarios may be invaluable in the future development of CO2 networks in the EU. Finally, and an original contribution of this article is that it employs the three lawyers of energy law theoretical framework to an energy problem that was examined by an interdisciplinary research team. Furthermore, this research was developed further through two key industry stakeholder meetings with CCS experts in the EU

Tear Fluid SIgA as a Noninvasive Biomarker of Mucosal Immunity and Common Cold Risk

PURPOSE: Research has not convincingly demonstrated the utility of saliva secretory immunoglobulin-A (SIgA) as a biomarker of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) risk, and disagreement exists about the influence of heavy exercise ("open-window theory") and dehydration on saliva SIgA. Prompted by the search for viable alternatives, we compared the utility of tear and saliva SIgA to predict URTI prospectively (study 1) and assessed the influence of exercise (study 2) and dehydration (study 3) using a repeated-measures crossover design. METHODS: In study 1, 40 subjects were recruited during the common-cold season. Subjects provided tear and saliva samples weekly and recorded upper respiratory symptoms (URS) daily for 3 wk. Real-time PCR confirmed common-cold pathogens in 9 of 11 subjects reporting URS (82%). Predictive utility of tear and saliva SIgA was explored by comparing healthy samples with those collected during the week before URS. In study 2, 13 subjects performed a 2-h run at 65% V O2peak. In study 3, 13 subjects performed exercise heat stress to 3% body mass loss followed by overnight fluid restriction. RESULTS: Tear SIgA concentration and secretion rate were 48% and 51% lower, respectively, during URTI and 34% and 46% lower the week before URS (P 30%. Tear SIgA secretion rate >5.5 mug.min(-1) or no decrease of >30% predicted subjects free of URS in >80% of cases. Tear SIgA concentration decreased after exercise (-57%, P < 0.05) in line with the "open-window theory" but was unaffected by dehydration. Saliva flow rate decreased and saliva SIgA concentration increased after exercise and during dehydration (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Tear SIgA has utility as a noninvasive biomarker of mucosal immunity and common-cold risk

Indigeneity and likelihood of discharge to psychiatric hospital in an Australian deliberate self-poisoning hospital-treated cohort

Hospital-treated self-harm rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) people are at least double those for other Australians. Despite this, limited research has explored the relationship between Indigeneity and the clinical management of hospital-treated deliberate self-harm. A retrospective clinical cohort study (2003–2012) at a regional referral centre (NSW) for deliberate self-poisoning was used to explore the magnitude and direction of the relationship between Indigeneity and discharge destination (psychiatric hospital vs. other) using a series of logistic regressions. There were 149 (4%) Indigenous and 3697 (96%) non-Indigenous deliberate self-poisoning admissions during the study period. One-third (31%) were referred to the psychiatric hospital at discharge; Indigenous 21% (n = 32) vs. non-Indigenous 32% (n = 1175). Those who identified as Indigenous were less likely to be discharged to the psychiatric hospital, OR 0.59 (0.40–0.87) at the univariate level, with little change after sequential adjustment; and AOR 0.34 (0.21–0.73) in the fully adjusted model. The Indigenous cohort had a lower likelihood of psychiatric hospital discharge even after adjustment for variables associated with discharge to the psychiatric hospital highlighting the need for further investigation of the reasons accounting for this differential pattern of clinical management and the effectiveness of differential after-care allocation