OnTrack to science literacy: Addressing the diverse needs of non-traditional students engaged in an Australian pre-university enabling program

In recent years, enrolments in ‘OnTrack’ - Murdoch University’s pre-university enabling program - have substantially increased; and the study choices of these students diversified, with many students choosing to commence undergraduate science programs. Concurrently, the university’s commitment to developing an ‘interdisciplinary perspective’ in undergraduates has strengthened. These changes necessitated the inclusion of a curriculum module focused on developing scientific literacy to be undertaken by all ‘OnTrack’ students. However, the nature of this module required careful thought as the ‘OnTrack’ student cohort is characterised by diverse interests, aspirations, attitudes and past educational experiences related to science learning. In this session, the authors discuss their rationale for using an “everyday science” approach, rather than the traditional “pipeline” science approach in designing this module. There is ongoing research into the success of this approach in facilitating both student engagement in learning about science and opportunities for transformative learning

Understanding the learner: Effective course design in the changing higher education space

Due to the ‘Bradley’ review of Higher Education in 2008, there has been a shift in demographics of students entering universities in Australia (Bradley, Noonan, Nugent & Scales, 2008). Moreover, the uncertainty around university funding has created additional challenges for many universities. However, as Jobs once stated “innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat” (2011), and emerging from this space arose an opportunity at Murdoch University to create OnTrack Sprint, which specifically aimed to capture school-leavers aspiring to university but achieving an ATAR just below the cut-off for direct entrance (i.e. between 60 - 69.95). This four-week intensive program was offered for the first time pre-semester one, 2015. Of those who started the course, 92% were retained and 96% of retained students progressed to enrolling in an undergraduate course at Murdoch University. The effectiveness of this enabling program stemmed from a curriculum that was informed by the learning needs (Kift, 2009) of this targeted demographic. This paper dances with the idea that a successful student-teacher relationship is reliant on ‘knowing’ your learner (Hattie, 2009) and refers to the program OnTrack Sprint to demonstrate how an effective transition pedagogy that is cognisant of the learner can be intentionally constructed and delivered to effectively engage and transition enabling students

Addressing social and emotional learning: Fostering resilience and academic self-efficacy in educationally disadvantaged learners transitioning to university

In recent years, the impact of mental health issues on university students’ ability to successfully access, transition and participate in university has gained increasing attention. Mental wellbeing is of particular concern in pre-university enabling programs which often specifically target educationally-disadvantaged equity groups. It has become increasingly clear that in addition to ‘academic skills’, these students also need to be equipped with social and emotional skills that support their transition to university, as well as promote resilience, sustained motivation and academic self- efficacy. In response to this, we reviewed and revised the curricula of two of Murdoch University’s key enabling programs to incorporate material which focused on developing these skills. This paper presents our rationale and examples of our diverse approaches to addressing social and emotional learning in curricula which aims to support and enable the transition of educationally disadvantaged students into undergraduate studies

Ontogeny of Toll-Like and NOD-Like Receptor-Mediated Innate Immune Responses in Papua New Guinean Infants

Studies addressing the ontogeny of the innate immune system in early life have reported mainly on Toll-like receptor (TLR) responses in infants living in high-income countries, with little or even no information on other pattern recognition receptors or on early life innate immune responses in children living under very different environmental conditions in less-developed parts of the world. In this study, we describe whole blood innate immune responses to both Toll-like and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor agonists including the widely used vaccine adjuvant ‘alum’ in a group of Papua New Guinean infants aged 1–3 (n = 18), 4–6 (n = 18), 7–12 (n = 21) and 13–18 (n = 10) months old. Depending on the ligands and cytokines studied, different age-related patterns were found: alum-induced IL-1β and CXCL8 responses were found to significantly decline with increasing age; inflammatory (IL-6, IL-1β, IFN-γ) responses to TLR2 and TLR3 agonists increased; and IL-10 responses remained constant or increased during infancy, while TNF-α responses either declined or remained the same. We report for the first time that whole blood innate immune responses to the vaccine adjuvant alum decrease with age in infancy; a finding that may imply that the adjuvant effect of alum in pediatric vaccines could be age-related. Our findings further suggest that patterns of innate immune development may vary between geographically diverse populations, which in line with the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ particularly involves persistence of innate IL-10 responses in populations experiencing higher infectious pressure

Vaccine responses in newborns.

Immunisation of the newborn represents a key global strategy in overcoming morbidity and mortality due to infection in early life. Potential limitations, however, include poor immunogenicity, safety concerns and the development of tolerogenicity or hypo-responsiveness to either the same antigen and/or concomitant antigens administered at birth or in the subsequent months. Furthermore, the neonatal immunological milieu is polarised towards Th2-type immunity with dampening of Th1-type responses and impaired humoral immunity, resulting in qualitatively and quantitatively poorer antibody responses compared to older infants. Innate immunity also shows functional deficiency in antigen-presenting cells: the expression and signalling of Toll-like receptors undergo maturational changes associated with distinct functional responses. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of BCG, hepatitis B and oral polio vaccines, the only immunisations currently in use in the neonatal period, is proof of concept that vaccines can be successfully administered to the newborn via different routes of delivery to induce a range of protective mechanisms for three different diseases. In this review paper, we discuss the rationale for and challenges to neonatal immunisation, summarising progress made in the field, including lessons learnt from newborn vaccines in the pipeline. Furthermore, we explore important maternal, infant and environmental co-factors that may impede the success of current and future neonatal immunisation strategies. A variety of approaches have been proposed to overcome the inherent regulatory constraints of the newborn innate and adaptive immune system, including alternative routes of delivery, novel vaccine configurations, improved innate receptor agonists and optimised antigen-adjuvant combinations. Crucially, a dual strategy may be employed whereby immunisation at birth is used to prime the immune system in order to improve immunogenicity to subsequent homologous or heterologous boosters in later infancy. Similarly, potent non-specific immunomodulatory effects may be elicited when challenged with unrelated antigens, with the potential to reduce the overall risk of infection and allergic disease in early life

OnTrack to university: Understanding mechanisms of student retention in an Australian pre-university enabling program

University-based enabling programs have become an important pathway to university for non-traditional students. There is increasing interest in understanding the mechanisms that facilitate retention and success of enabling pathway students, with the aim of developing effective strategies for maximising opportunities for university access and participation. The current study focuses on an Australian enabling program that has achieved and sustained high retention rates, with three-quarters of its 2115 students that enrolled during the last seven years (2008 – 2014) retained until the end of the program. Further, 90 per cent of retained students were successful in receiving an offer to university; and 94 per cent of students that received an offer subsequently enrolled in an undergraduate course. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that demographic and prior educational factors explained little about student retention in the program. The main reasons cited for withdrawal were medical or emotional issues, and family problems or responsibilities. Overall, this data suggests that both pre-program conduct and in-program practices may enhance student retention outcomes. Specifically, practices that support the development of strong peer and tutor-student relationships, and that foster community connections, are thought to provide a significant and positive influence on student retention in enabling programs

POCUS: CAUDAL VENA CAVA

editorial reviewedThis chapter focuses on ultrasonography of the caudal vena cava (CVC) in small animals and three published methodologies. It also focuses on cardiac, pulmonary and thoracic ultrasonography for integrating additional point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) information for complete patient volume assessment. Three different methods have been described and studied in the veterinary literature: the subxiphoid CVC view; the intercostal CVC view; and the paralumbar CVC view. CVC evaluation in small animals still requires further scientific validation in actual clinical settings. However, the authors have established reference values that may be used for the CVC using the three described POCUS CVC methods in healthy dogs. Reference values for the hepatic and paralumbar CVC views, expressed via allometric scaling, are presented. The main purpose of a POCUS CVC is the evaluation of volume status and indirectly cardiovascular function of the patient

Interferon-alpha subtypes differentially enhance dendritic cell biology

Type I IFN subtypes have been shown to exhibit differential efficacies in the immune response to virus infections. Recent efforts in vaccine developments have focused on new strategies to improve immunity, including the interaction of dendritic cells (DC) with IFNs. In this study, we assess the immunomodulating capacity of a panel of mouse IFN proteins to enhance DC activation and immune stimulating potential, providing a link between innate and adaptive immunity. Individual or combinatorial murine IFN-alpha and -beta subtypes were used to stimulate BALB/c bone marrow-derived DC (BMDC), which were then analysed for activation marker expression, antigen uptake and processing, and antigen-specific CD4_ T cell stimulatory capacity. Murine IFN-alpha 1, -4, -6 and beta subtypes displayed differential efficacies in BMDC activation, antigen processing and presentation to naïve antigen-specific CD4_ T cells. IFN-beta was the most efficient stimulator of BMDC activation and antigen processing of all the subtypes tested, followed by IFN-alpha 4. Additionally, IFN-alpha 4/beta was found to be superior to all other IFNs in enhancing antigen processing. However, IFN treatment appeared to inhibit DC-mediated CD4_ T cell activation in an ovalbumin model system. Differences in mRNA expression profiles of TLR-3, -4, -9, OAS1, PKR and RIG-I after BMDC stimulation with IFN subtypes were noted. These data confirm the adjuvant potential of select IFN subtypes in DC-mediated immunity and propose their application for vaccine development