Phenotype and cytokine expression profiles of ovine dendritic cells migrating to lymph nodes

Dendritic cells (DCs) function at the interphases of innate and adaptive immunity. The ability ofDCs to control the responses ofeffector T cells, B cells and NK cells are due, in part, to cell contacts and DC cytokines. Different DC subsets exist, that appear to have different biological roles in vivo. Cannulation of the 'pseudoafferent' lymphatics is one of the few methods of obtaining differentiated DCs ex vivo. Lymph DCs are not a homogenous population, and this study tested the hypothesis that discrete populations exist in vivo, that differentially express immunomodulatoiy molecules. Two lymph DC populations were defined by expression of signal regulatory protein-a (SIRPa). SIRPa+ DCs were CD58+, CD1 la+, WC6+, CD45RA", expressed CD16, CD14, CD206, CD4 and CD8 at low levels or on minor sub-populations, and as a single population expressed higher levels of CDllc, CD40, CD80, CD86 and MHC II than did SIRPa DCs. SIRPa" DCs were CD16", CD14", CD206", CD4", CD8", CD1 la+ and displayed heterogeneity of expression of CD58, CD1 lc, WC6 and CD45RA. Importantly, freshly isolated SIRPa+ DCs expressed IL-12 p40 and IL-18 mRNA, whereas SIRPa" DCs were negative for these transcripts. Neither IL-6 nor IL-10 mRNA were detected by PCR in the DC populations. Differential expression of molecules involved in antigen uptake (CD14, CD16, CD206), interactions with lymphocytes (CD54, CDlla, CD40) and antigen presentation and T cell activation (MHC II, CD80, CD86, IL-12, IL-18), suggests that the lymph DC populations may have different funtions in vivo. This knowledge would support therapeutic strategies to target particular DC populations in vivo, to enhance, or to suppress their natural role in the immune responseIn order to perform multiple cytokine analysis on the lymph DCs, a multiprobe RNase protection assay (RPA) was developed for eleven cytokines. First, sheep interleukin-18 (IL-18) was cloned and sequenced. By inducing the production of interferon gamma, IL-18 is an important regulator of T cell immunity. This was the first description ofIL-18 expression patterns in sheep. Second, standardisation analysis showed that the RPA could reliably quantify levels of IL-1 p, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 p40, IL-18, GM-CSF, IFNyand TGF0 mRNA. IL-8 and TNFa - specific riboprobes require optimisation for use with the developed protocol. The amount of RNA required for analysis using the RPA exceeded what was isolated from the DC subsets. However, the RPA makes it possible to evaluate levels ofnine cytokine mRNA transcripts in single RNA samples isolated from sheep. This will help support studies of ovine immunology and immunopathology, where cytokine responses are the readout

Situated Learning in the Local Food Movement

The praxis of food choice is examined from a situated learning lens to explore the meaning assigned to the practice of eating locally and commitment to social change

When the Balance Isn't Easy: A Case Study Exploring the Complications with Work-Life Balance Initiatives in the Australian Construction Industry

Studies of work and life balance often concentrate on the ways in which employees may require and use flexible work practices to cope with the demands of their other ‘non-work’ activities and responsibilities. This paper adds to our knowledge in this arena through presenting a case study of work-life balance. This case study focuses on managerial and employee issues in implementing organisational work life balance initiatives within the construction industry in Australia. For this case study, the workplace was an ‘alliance’ project, of four collaborating companies undertaking a large infrastructure project. The project management group determined that work-life balance was an important issue within the industry and consequently implemented a five-day instead of the industry standard six-day working week as a balance initiative for the workforce. A range of factors contributed to this five-day week initiative reverting to the original work schedule of a six-day working week. This paper explores these issues and analyses the competing priorities and demands of management in endeavouring to develop alternate strategies to maintain a positive work and life balance for employees. The analysis of this case suggests that management and employees were dedicated to improving work-life balance; however, a range of externalities resulted in not all initiatives being successful. Nevertheless, within the constrained choices, the management group instigated alternate initiatives

Brexit and the UK Automotive Industry

The UK's automotive industry has been one of the ‘star performers’ of the UK economy in recent years – unlike most other manufacturing sectors. Output has increased by over 60 per cent since 2010 and there has been over £8 billion worth of investment in the industry in the past five years. The industry supports some 800,000 jobs in the UK. It is seen as having benefitted from EU membership. So what might Brexit mean for the UK automotive sector, and its workers? This paper considers short-run impacts, before turning to the impact of uncertainty on foreign direct investment inflows and then the nature of a possible trading relationship. Some brief reflections on policy implications round off the paper

The Learning Healthcare System: How an Adult Education Lens Can Be Used to Inform a Paradigm Shift in US Healthcare Landscape

Adult education researchers and practitioners have an unprecedented opportunity to inform and learn with the health care system as it embraces learning as a process to provide the best care at lower cost

The digital Sabbath and the digital distraction: Arts-based research methods for new audiences

Despite the known affordances of Arts-Based Research Practice within the international education environment, its use remains relatively uncommon in Western Australia. The reasons for this are likely the contested nature of quality criteria by which Arts-Based Practice is evaluated as well as the challenges as well associated with the dissemination of research findings. Mixed-methods research is increasingly recognised as an appropriate and practical approach for education phenomena, and within this domain, inquiry that combines traditional qualitative and arts-based strategies offers the education researcher advantages that are not readily available through other approaches. As professional artists and researchers we share our experiences in employing our visual arts specialism within a qualitative approach. Our focus for inquiry was a “Digital Sabbath” intervention (a practice of regularly unplugging from all technology/devices with the aim of increasing social connectedness and mitigating stress) with seven early career visual arts teachers whose voices and experience of the digital disruption might otherwise have remained silenced. The importance of the study was both that we trialed a well-being intervention, but also that we innovated our methodological research repertoire by combining traditional and contemporary elements of the Qualitative paradigm

Evaluation of Technology Concepts for Traffic Data Management and Relevant Audio for Datalink in Commercial Airline Flight Decks

Datalink is currently operational for departure clearances and in oceanic environments and is currently being tested in high altitude domestic enroute airspace. Interaction with even simple datalink clearances may create more workload for flight crews than the voice system they replace if not carefully designed. Datalink may also introduce additional complexity for flight crews with hundreds of uplink messages now defined for use. Finally, flight crews may lose airspace awareness and operationally relevant information that they normally pickup from Air Traffic Control (ATC) voice communications with other aircraft (i.e., party-line transmissions). Once again, automation may be poised to increase workload on the flight deck for incremental benefit. Datalink implementation to support future air traffic management concepts needs to be carefully considered, understanding human communication norms and especially, the change from voice- to text-based communications modality and its effect on pilot workload and situation awareness. Increasingly autonomous systems, where autonomy is designed to support human-autonomy teaming, may be suited to solve these issues. NASA is conducting research and development of increasingly autonomous systems, utilizing machine-learning algorithms seamlessly integrated with humans whereby task performance of the combined system is significantly greater than the individual components. Increasingly autonomous systems offer the potential for significantly improved levels of performance and safety that are superior to either human or automation alone. Two increasingly autonomous systems concepts - a traffic data manager and a conversational co-pilot - were developed to intelligently address the datalink issues in a complex, future state environment with significant levels of traffic. The system was tested for suitability of datalink usage for terminal airspace. The traffic data manager allowed for automated declutter of the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) display. The system determined relevant traffic for display based on machine learning algorithms trained by experienced human pilot behaviors. The conversational co-pilot provided relevant audio air traffic control messages based on context and proximity to ownship. Both systems made use of the connected aircraft concepts to provide intelligent context to determine relevancy above and beyond proximity to ownship. A human-in-the-loop test was conducted in NASA Langley Research Centers Integration Flight Deck B-737-800 simulator to evaluate the traffic data manager and the conversational co-pilot. Twelve airline crews flew various normal and non-normal procedures and their actions and performance were recorded in response to the procedural events. This paper details the flight crew performance and evaluation during the events

Preparing Clinical Faculty to Teach and Reinforce Hourly Rounding

A gap exists in the knowledge of clinical faculty teaching prelicensure students about hourly rounding. The purpose of this project was to develop an educational program to prepare clinical faculty teaching student nurses to conduct hourly rounding. Hourly rounding trained faculty ensure safe practice by students and adherence to hospital policies. Hourly rounding includes the 4 Ps, which entails the assessment of “potty”, pain, position, and possession/periphery. Models and theories used to inform the project included the American Academy of Pediatrics’ 10-step process for developing training courses, Knowles’ theory of adult learning, Kirkpatrick\u27s evaluation model, and the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) manual. The practice question examined the content and processes required to meet the faculty’s gap in practice. The target audience of the course was full-time clinical faculty. The components of the course included a pretest and posttest, a lesson plan with activities suitable to exercise the processes. An expert panel evaluated the components of the curriculum using a rubric and a questionnaire. Analysis and synthesis of findings from the faculty expert panel were used to refine the program and to ensure the developed course met the criteria of the evaluation rubric adopted from ACEN standards. The content and processes to address the gap in clinical faculty’s knowledge about hourly rounding were found to be adequate and comprehensive and over the course of 3 revisions met all criteria. A positive social change impact will be ensured for patients, families, and staff when the clinical faculty work collaboratively to address clinical needs in a timely manner