Engaging alumni to support employability and the study-work transition

Abstract Ensuring graduate employability is core business for Australian Higher Education Institutions and evidence-based strategies for embedding employability have been implemented across the sector. This work is particularly important in STEM disciplines where students are presented with a broad array of career opportunities. For universities interested in improving employability skills and graduate outcomes, it is imperative to move beyond requests of alumni to provide mentoring, membership on advisory boards, donations, and contributions to brand capital. To date, alumni are an underutilised resource in supporting employability and they are often left to fend for themselves in the transition from university. This OLT National Teaching Fellowship proposes a redefinition of the philosophy of the alumnus and their role in Australian Higher education. By reshaping our notions of success and modalities for connecting with alumni we may enhance our capacity to maintain connection with our graduates. In return we will unlock their intelligences to support curricula and employability initiatives, ensuring graduate capabilities in future cohorts. This session aims to explore current alumni engagement methodologies, provide tools for connecting with alumni, and open dialogue around the role of alumni connection in facilitating graduate success and the study-work transition. Objectives • To develop participant awareness of the value of alumni engagement in STEM disciplines. • To explore opportunities for alumni contribution to undergraduate curriculum and employability initiatives. • To help participants facilitate improved relationships between alumni and their School or University. Workshop description Two hours with 50 participants maximum. The intended audience is (i) academic staff involved in the development of employability curriculum and (ii) university leadership interested in supporting alumni relationships. Activities include: • Identification of key areas in programs where alumni may contribute to employability. • Discussion of current and emerging methods for supporting graduates in the transition to work. • Strategies for developing and maintaining strong alumni networks. Biography of workshop leader Dr. Jessica Vanderlelie is a Senior Lecturer at the Griffith University School of Medical Science, where she coordinates the embedding of employability curriculum across the Faculty of Health. Jessica is passionate about supporting graduate success and as an Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow, is currently leading a program of activities to ‘Revision Alumni Engagement for Graduate Success’

Teaching and evaluating graduate attributes in multimedia science based assessment tasks

New media literacy is an important employability skill for the future workforce and particularly important for graduates in the Health and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Digital story telling is a widely recognised strategy to engage student learning. This project evaluated student perspectives of the value digital story telling in the context of graduate skills development, digital media capability and leading areas of concern. Forth-year Pharmacy students (n=92) from the University of South Australia and 2nd year Health Science Students (n=83) from Griffith University were surveyed. Overwhelmingly, students reported the assessment was fun and they enjoyed working creatively and in teams. They also reported the development of graduate qualities including problem solving (85%), critical thinking (82%), oral (91%) communication, team work (95%) and time management (90%). For educators interested in this form of assessment, key considerations include mindfulness of level of anxiety this new form of activity may place on students, in particular their “need” for instruction and access to software and hardware. Students reporting anxiety or apprehension were most concerned about technical skill (87%) and the time required to complete the task (83%) that was linked to lower levels of computing ability (55% vs. 90% reporting as good/expert)

Essential mineral intake during pregnancy and its association with maternal health and birth outcomes in South East Queensland, Australia

Micronutrient supplements are often recommended during pregnancy, yet their role and necessity remain poorly understood in the Australian population. This study aimed to determine the essential mineral intake of a population of pregnant women in South East Queensland and investigate the effects of supplements on their micronutrient status and birth outcomes. Women completing the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test at two South East Queensland hospitals between 180 and 210 days gestation provided fasting blood samples and dietary data using the Maternal Outcomes and Nutrition Tool (n = 127). Birth outcomes were sourced from medical records. Serum elemental profiles were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis. Intake of 8 essential minerals was compared with Australian dietary recommendations; matched serum mineral levels were compared with the current Queensland pregnancy reference ranges. Data were examined using cross-sectional cohort design and independent sample t-tests. Supplement use had no significant influence on serum values of trace elements or the incidence of hypertensive disorders, gestational diabetes, preterm birth or infant birthweight. Dietary selenium, zinc and iodine were significantly higher in women birthing beyond 41 completed weeks; selenium (P = .026) and zinc (P = .034) both made unique contributions to the regression models when controlling for confounders. Women exhibited adequate to excessive serum micronutrient levels compared with pregnancy reference ranges, a finding consistent with dietary intake calculations. Data suggest that excessive essential mineral intake contributed to prolonged pregnancy in this cohort, supporting previous studies in this population. Further research is required to determine individual needs and eliminate the potential for harm before recommending pregnancy supplements

Ozone therapy for the treatment of chronic wounds: A systematic review

Chronic wounds present a significant burden to the health care system and the patient. Ozone therapy has been proposed as a treatment for chronic wounds, potentially acting by eliciting mild oxidative stress or disinfection. The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the potential benefits and harms of ozone therapy as an advanced care intervention for chronic wounds. Studies were extracted from Google Scholar, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and reference lists. General inclusion criteria included English-language randomised human trials reporting the use of ozone therapy in the topical treatment of chronic wounds. Primary outcome data included the extent of chronic wound healing, and secondary outcomes included adverse effects. Studies were assessed for level of bias and data quality. Nine studies (n = 453 patients) matched the inclusion criteria and underwent meta-analysis. Overall, there was a significant improvement in wound closure with ozone therapy. Results consistently favour the application of ozone as a treatment for chronic wounds; however, there is no conclusive evidence of ozone therapy as superior compared with standard treatments. Compared with standard care, ozone therapy as an advanced wound care treatment may improve the proportion of chronic wounds healed in a shorter amount of time, but further research is required.</p

Design, development, and evaluation of the Maternal Outcomes and Nutrition Tool (MONT)

Suboptimal nutrition has been largely associated with poorer perinatal outcomes. However, an inability to compare data between biologically and geographically diverse cohorts has complicated determination of the role of diet in such conditions. The aim of this paper is to describe the design, development, and evaluation of the Maternal Outcomes and Nutrition Tool (MONT), a novel cross‐cultural digital dietary data collection tool. The tool was modelled on previously validated food frequency questionnaires and designed for exclusive administration in the digital environment, featuring minimal language and emphasis on images. Participants were recruited by both passive and active means. A total of 502 women were recruited; descriptive statistics were used to describe the cohort. Pregnant women constituted the majority of subjects recruited (n = 376, 74.9%), 63% of which were nulliparous. Women were recruited from 13 ethnicities and 20 countries of birth. Of the 341 women who commenced the surveys (68%), 114 submitted complete datasets (33.5%). Maintenance and recruitment costs equated to $5.64 per completion. Total processing and analysis time for the pilot dataset equated to 12 s per survey. The MONT was used successfully by women from a variety of continents and cultures and proved to be practical and economical in terms resource management

First do no harm: intrapartum calcium loading during oxytocic induction of labor

Pregnancy advancing beyond 40 completed weeks is associated with increased physical risk to both mother and fetus that increases concurrently with gestation. The recommended management for pregnancies approaching 42 weeks is a post-dates induction of labour. While induction often involves several stages, the majority of women are ultimately subject to exogenous oxytocin administration

Overexpression of endogenous anti-oxidants with selenium supplementation protects trophoblast cells from reactive oxygen species-induced apoptosis in a bcl-2-dependent manner

The human placenta provides life support for the developing foetus, and a healthy placenta is a prerequisite to a healthy start to life. Placental tissue is subject to oxidative stress which can lead to pathological conditions of pregnancy such as preeclampsia, preterm labour and intrauterine growth restriction. Up-regulation of endogenous anti-oxidants may alleviate placental oxidative stress and provide a therapy for these complications of pregnancy. In this study, selenium supplementation, as inorganic sodium selenite (NaSel) or organic selenomethionine (SeMet), was used to increase the protein production and cellular activity of the important redox active proteins glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and thioredoxin reductase (Thx-Red). Placental trophoblast cell lines, BeWo, JEG-3 and Swan-71, were cultured in various concentrations of NaSel or SeMet for 24 h and cell extracts prepared for western blots and enzyme assays. Rotenone and antimycin were used to stimulate mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and induce apoptosis. Trophoblast cells supplemented with 100 nM NaSel and 500 nM SeMet exhibited significantly enhanced expression and activity of both GPx and Thx-Red. Antimycin and rotenone were found to generate ROS when measured by 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFDA) assay, and selenium supplementation was shown to reduce ROS production in a dose-dependent manner. Rotenone, 100 μM treatment for 4 h, caused trophoblast cell apoptosis as evidenced by increased Annexin V binding and decreased expression of Bcl-2. In both assays of apoptosis, selenium supplementation was able to prevent apoptosis, preserve Bcl-2 expression and protect trophoblast cells from mitochondrial oxidative stress. This data suggests that selenoproteins such as GPx and Thx-Red have an important role in protecting trophoblast cells from mitochondrial oxidative stress and that selenium supplementation may be important in treating some placental pathologies.</p

Selective inhibition of endogenous antioxidants with Auranofin causes mitochondrial oxidative stress which can be countered by selenium supplementation

Auranofin is a thiol-reactive gold (I)-containing compound with potential as a chemotherapeutic. Auranofin has the capacity to selectively inhibit endogenous antioxidant enzymes thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), resulting in oxidative stress and the initiation of a pro-apoptotic cascade. The effect of Auranofin exposure on TrxR and GPx, and the potential for cellular protection through selenium supplementation was examined in the non-cancerous human cell line Swan-71. Auranofin exposure resulted in a concentration dependent differential inhibition of selenoprotein antioxidants. Significant inhibition of TrxR was observed at 20 nM Auranofin with inhibition of GPx from 10 µM. Significant increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) were associated with antioxidant inhibition at Auranofin concentrations of 100 nM (TrxR inhibition) and 10 µM (TrxR and GPx inhibition), respectively. Evaluation of mitochondrial respiration demonstrated significant reductions in routine and maximal respiration at both 100 nM and 10 μM Auranofin. Auranofin treatment at concentrations of 10 μM and higher concentrations resulted in a ∼68% decrease in cellular viability and was associated with elevations in pro-apoptotic markers cytochrome c flux control factor (FCFc) at concentration of 100 nM and mitochondrial Bax at 10 μM. The supplementation of selenium (100 nM) prior to treatment had a generalized protective affect through the restoration of antioxidant activity with a significant increase in TrxR and GPx activity, a significant reduction in ROS and associated improvement in mitochondrial respiration and cellular viability (10 µM ∼48% increase). Selenium supplementation reduced the FCFc at low doses of Auranofin (<10 μM) however no effect was noted on either FCFc or Bax at concentrations above 10 μM. The inhibition of antioxidant systems in non-cancerous cells by Auranofin is strongly dose dependent, and this inhibition can be altered by selenium exposure. Therefore, Auranofin dose and the selenium status of patients are important considerations in the therapeutic use of Auranofin as an agent of chemosensitization.</p

Use of micronutrient supplements in pregnant women of south-east Queensland

Background: Multiple micronutrient supplement use in the Australian pregnant population is rising, despite little evidence of benefit in low-risk women. While some supplement recommendations are grounded in high-quality evidence, others warrant further investigation. This highlights a research gap regarding appropriate use of supplements during pregnancy in the Australian population. Aims: To describe micronutrient supplement use during pregnancy in the context of current evidence and national recommendations in a population of south-east Queensland women. Material and methods: A cross-sectional observational design was used to examine data gathered from pregnant women aged 16-44 years residing in south-east Queensland, Australia. Women were recruited to the study between 23 May 2016 and 30 September 2017. Results: Pregnancy multivitamin use was declared by 42% of the cohort, with 26.8% declaring multivitamins in combination with individual micronutrients and 9.8% declaring specific micronutrient supplement use. Nulliparous women were more likely to declare use of supplements than their multiparous peers (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.938, 95% CI 1.053-3.571, P = 0.034); smoking (aOR 2.717, 95% CI 1.011-7.302, P = 0.047) and low socio-economic status were associated with no supplement use (aOR 2.451, 95% CI 1.010-5.949, P = 0.048). Conclusions: Current recommendations regarding micronutrient supplements throughout pregnancy are based on varying degrees of evidence, resulting in supplement advice of poor cohesion and consistency. Adherence to micronutrient supplement recommendations in the peri-conception period in this population was poor; second and third trimester supplement use was high. Contemporary empirical research is required to determine what constitutes appropriate supplementation in high-income regions and the populations they will benefit most