The nature of agricultural industry school partnerships: a primary school case study

With severe workforce shortages present across the agricultural supply chain, exploring and improving ways to increase student interest in the sector is paramount (Azarias et al., 2020). Industry school partnerships are one approach used to increase student awareness of, and interest in, careers (Mann et al., 2018; Shergold et al., 2020). Whilst industry school partnerships are not a new concept, limited research seeks to understand these partnerships as a whole system, considering the influence and interconnection between stakeholders (Flynn, 2015; Leonard, 2011). The research we are presenting seeks to theorise industry school partnerships as an ecological system, applying Bronfenbrenner’s (1976) Ecological Systems Theory to this partnership, rather than the developing learner. This talk will present interview data from teachers and industry partners, and survey data from students, in a case study of an industry school partnership designed to improve year 5 and 6 students’ knowledge of agriculture and aspiration for a career in the sector. By including an incursion and excursion related to electrical energy sources in agribusinesses as part of the physical sciences unit of work for these students, they were exposed to multiple agricultural practices and careers. The data will explore the nature of the partnership including key principles identified by teacher and industry participants and how their objectives were met. REFERENCES Azarias, J., Nettle, R., & Williams, J. (2020). National Agricultural Workforce Strategy: Learning to Excel. National Agricultural Labour Advisory Committee, Canberra. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1976). The experimental ecology of education. Teachers College Record, 78(2), 1-37. Flynn, M. (2015). Industry-school partnerships: An ecological case study to understand operational dynamics. PhD diss., Queensland University of Technology. Leonard, J. (2011). Using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory to understand community partnerships: A historical case study of one urban high school. Urban education, 46(5), 987-1010. Mann, A., Rehill, J., & Kashefpakdel, T. (2018). Employer Engagement in Education: Insights from International Evidence for Effective Practice and Future Research. Education Endowment Foundation. https://www.educationandemployers.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Employer_Engagement_in_Education.pdf Shergold, P., Calma, T., Russo, S., Walton, P., Westacott, J., Zoellner, D., & O'Reilly, P. (2020). Looking to the Future: Report of the review of senior secondary pathways into work, further education and training. (1 ed.) Education Services Australia. https://apo.org.au/node/30713

Pharmaceutical pollution of the world's rivers

Environmental exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can have negative effects on the health of ecosystems and humans. While numerous studies have monitored APIs in rivers, these employ different analytical methods, measure different APIs, and have ignored many of the countries of the world. This makes it difficult to quantify the scale of the problem from a global perspective. Furthermore, comparison of the existing data, generated for different studies/regions/continents, is challenging due to the vast differences between the analytical methodologies employed. Here, we present a global-scale study of API pollution in 258 of the world's rivers, representing the environmental influence of 471.4 million people across 137 geographic regions. Samples were obtained from 1,052 locations in 104 countries (representing all continents and 36 countries not previously studied for API contamination) and analyzed for 61 APIs. Highest cumulative API concentrations were observed in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and South America. The most contaminated sites were in low- to middle-income countries and were associated with areas with poor wastewater and waste management infrastructure and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The most frequently detected APIs were carbamazepine, metformin, and caffeine (a compound also arising from lifestyle use), which were detected at over half of the sites monitored. Concentrations of at least one API at 25.7% of the sampling sites were greater than concentrations considered safe for aquatic organisms, or which are of concern in terms of selection for antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, pharmaceutical pollution poses a global threat to environmental and human health, as well as to delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Industry perspectives of industry school partnerships: What can agriculture learn?

This paper aims to identify and synthesise research related to industry perspectives of industry school partnerships (ISPs) with primary and secondary students globally. A systematic review of ISP studies published between 2001 and 2021 that included industry perspectives was undertaken in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. This focused systematically ordered review of industry perspectives of ISPs elicited four key findings: Limited research specifically focusing on industry participants’ perceptions of career and knowledge sharing ISPs exist. The most common reasons for participation included promoting careers and/or their industry, and enhancing community goodwill. The most common barriers or challenges in participating included time, budget and process constraints, and understanding the partnership’s impact. Communication, trust, relationships, and setting clear goals are often important features highlighted for successful partnerships. The recommendations from this review will be used to design, deliver and evaluate ISPs which aim to benefit agricultural industry participants. Future research will apply the findings from this review to a rural case site in Victoria, Australia, focused on agricultural ISPs aimed at increasing students’ aspirations for a career in the sector. This is vital as agriculture is an important industry in this region, yet many students are unaware of the range of career opportunities available to them

Dual targeting of the proteasome regulates survival and homing in Waldenström macroglobulinemia

Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) is an incurable low-grade B-cell lymphoma characterized by high protein turnover. We dissected the biologic role of the proteasome in WM using 2 proteasome inhibitors, NPI-0052 and bortezomib. We found that NPI-0052 inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in WM cells, and that the combination of NPI-0052 and bortezomib induced synergistic cytotoxicity in WM cells, leading to inhibition of nuclear translocation of p65NF-κB and synergistic induction of caspases-3, -8, and -9 and PARP cleavage. These 2 agents inhibited the canonical and noncanonical NF-κB pathways and acted synergistically through their differential effect on Akt activity and on chymotrypsin-like, caspaselike, and trypsinlike activities of the proteasome. We demonstrated that NPI-0052–induced cytotoxicity was completely abrogated in an Akt knockdown cell line, indicating that its major activity is mediated through the Akt pathway. Moreover, we demonstrated that NPI-0052 and bortezomib inhibited migration and adhesion in vitro and homing of WM cells in vivo, and overcame resistance induced by mesenchymal cells or by the addition of interleukin-6 in a coculture in vitro system. Theses studies enhance our understanding of the biologic role of the proteasome pathway in WM, and provide the preclinical basis for clinical trials of combinations of proteasome inhibitors in WM

Pharmaceutical pollution of the world's rivers

Environmental exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can have negative effects on the health of ecosystems and humans. While numerous studies have monitored APIs in rivers, these employ different analytical methods, measure different APIs, and have ignored many of the countries of the world. This makes it difficult to quantify the scale of the problem from a global perspective. Furthermore, comparison of the existing data, generated for different studies/regions/continents, is challenging due to the vast differences between the analytical methodologies employed. Here, we present a global-scale study of API pollution in 258 of the world's rivers, representing the environmental influence of 471.4 million people across 137 geographic regions. Samples were obtained from 1,052 locations in 104 countries (representing all continents and 36 countries not previously studied for API contamination) and analyzed for 61 APIs. Highest cumulative API concentrations were observed in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and South America. The most contaminated sites were in low- to middle-income countries and were associated with areas with poor wastewater and waste management infrastructure and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The most frequently detected APIs were carbamazepine, metformin, and caffeine (a compound also arising from lifestyle use), which were detected at over half of the sites monitored. Concentrations of at least one API at 25.7% of the sampling sites were greater than concentrations considered safe for aquatic organisms, or which are of concern in terms of selection for antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, pharmaceutical pollution poses a global threat to environmental and human health, as well as to delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals