Exploiting the proteins encoded in the genome of the broad host range Salmonella phage PVP-SE1

Foodborne diseases are of major concern due to its worldwide impact. Salmonella has been constantly pointed as the second leading cause constituting thus a major public health burden with significant impact in the society costs. The increased resistance of bacteria toward antimicrobials and the recent legislation restricting the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal production requires alternatives to the use of antibiotics in the control of this zoonotic pathogen. Consequently, there is an urgent need to control this bacterial genus. To accomplish this, fast and accurate techniques for early detection are also required. Bacteriophages (phages) as natural predators of bacteria offer a great potential for pathogens detection and control due to their high specificity and killing ability. We have isolated and characterize a broad host range phage with great potential for Salmonella control. This phage encodes several proteins with great biotechnological potential which include the phage tail fibers with application in Salmonella detection, peptidoglycan hydrolases and holins that produce lysis of the bacterial cells and depolymerases which can decrease the ability of the cells to form biofilms and consequently decrease resistance of the cells to treatment. In this work we will identify these proteins and envisage their biotechnological

Defining an International Standard Set of Outcome Measures for Patients With Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis: Consensus of the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis Working Group

Objective: To define a minimum Standard Set of outcome measures and case-mix factors for monitoring, comparing, and improving health care for patients with clinically diagnosed hip or knee osteoarthritis (OA), with a focus on defining the outcomes that matter most to patients. Methods: An international working group of patients, arthroplasty register experts, orthopedic surgeons, primary care physicians, rheumatologists, and physiotherapists representing 10 countries was assembled to review existing literature and practices for assessing outcomes of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic OA therapies, including surgery. A series of 8 teleconferences, incorporating a modified Delphi process, were held to reach consensus. Results: The working group reached consensus on a concise set of outcome measures to evaluate patients’ joint pain, physical functioning, health-related quality of life, work status, mortality, reoperations, readmissions, and overall satisfaction with treatment result. To support analysis of these outcome measures, pertinent baseline characteristics and risk factor metrics were defined. Annual outcome measurement is recommended for all patients. Conclusion: We have defined a Standard Set of outcome measures for monitoring the care of people with clinically diagnosed hip or knee OA that is appropriate for use across all treatment and care settings. We believe this Standard Set provides meaningful, comparable, and easy to interpret measures ready to implement in clinics and/or registries globally. We view this set as an initial step that, when combined with cost data, will facilitate value-based health care improvements in the treatment of hip and knee OA

A Virtual Resources Room: A Model in Equity, Access and Communication

First Year Biology Teaching at The University of Sydney involves repeat lecture series, multiple concurrent laboratory sessions, seemingly never ending reports to mark and vast numbers of examination papers to grade. The sheer size can lead to impersonal interactions between the staff (in dwindling numbers) and the students (in increasing numbers). Since the late 1980’s teaching methodologies and scenarios have been put in place to put the emphasis on small group teaching in large classes and student centred learning (Franklin and Peat, 1996). Since 1992 the use of computers in our laboratories has led the way to an explosion of material and delivery modes for teaching (Franklin and Peat, 1995) and assessment tasks (Franklin, Peat and Mackay-Wood, 1997). More recently the web has allowed the development of virtual communication between the staff and students. The poster will illustrate the use of the web in first year biology for delivery of course materials (such as CAL, Self-Assessment Modules, lecture notes and handouts), for formative assessment and for general communication with students. In particular the evolution of a “virtual” resources room (VRR), a web site accessed via the First Year Biology web address will be described. (http://fybio.bio.usyd.edu.au/FYBSOBS/FYB_welcome.html). The VRR contains many of the resources that are available in the “actual” resources room which is physically present in first year biology. It was developed to provide students with greater access to our materials than they had previously, as a result of the restricted opening hours and accommodation in the “actual” resources room, and to give them greater flexibility in their learning. The VRR is available to all students via log in access with a User ID and Password. The usage by students, and their perceptions of the “virtual” resources room will be presented

Multimedia in the Teaching of First Year Biology: The Use of Graphics and Animations

First year biology introduced computers to the learning environment to help students understand topics which are difficult to conceptualise and are often difficult to demonstrate in the laboratory, to encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning and to enhance group learning skills. We deliver computer-based assessment (formative and summative), computer-based teaching modules and web-based materials. Biology is a very visual subject, thus high quality images and animations are essential, enabling biological processes to be illustrated in an animated and interactive manner. Pictures have a direct route to long term memory with each image being stored as a coherent 'chunk' or concept (Paivio et al, 1968), and without useful meaning the pictures are not easily committed to memory (Freedman and Haber, 1974). Guidelines summarised by Levie and Lentz (1982) in an extensive review of the effects of illustrated text against text alone suggest: ¥ the presence of pictures relevant to the text will assist learning; ¥ pictures not covered by the information in the text will not enhance the learning of the text; ¥ the presence of pictures in the text will not aid the learning of the text which is not illustrated; ¥ pictures can help learners to understand what they read and also to remember it; ¥ pictures can sometimes be used as substitutes for words or as producers of nonverbal information; ¥ learners may fail to make full use of complex illustrations; and ¥ pictures may assist learners with poor verbal skills more than those with good verbal skills. The use of graphics and animations in our computer-based teaching modules and web-based materials is designed to stimulate understanding and help in remembering the detail. Graphics are chosen for their meaningful input in portraying or understanding biological content. Graphics have been generated from original art work, both computer and paper based, and sources such as clipart, textbooks, magazines, video camera microscopy etc. These images have been generated using Adobe Photoshop, Aldus SuperPaint and Avid VideoShop. Some images have been manipulated to create animations using Elastic Reality (ASDG), ADDmotion (Motion Works), Director (Macromedia) and Authorware (Macromedia), and incorporated into our computer-based materials

Boarding schools : A longitudinal examination of Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous boarders’ and non-boarders’ wellbeing

Improving educational outcomes for Indigenous Australian students is a key strategy to helping Indigenous people reach their full potential. This has resulted in well-intentioned efforts by Australian educators and governments to ensure Indigenous children have positive school experiences. However, Indigenous students still lag behind their non-Indigenous counterparts in educational outcomes. This is particularly so for Indigenous students living in rural and remote parts of Australia where educational opportunities are limited, especially in high school. One solution to this problem has been to enrol these students in boarding schools in urban and metropolitan centres. While research on the success of boarding schools for Indigenous students is scarce, what little that does exist is not encouraging. The focus of this research was to examine the effects of boarding for Indigenous (n = 11) and non-Indigenous students’ (n = 158) wellbeing (N = 1423) in two large private boys’ schools. Participating students aged 12–18 years old completed a survey measuring wellbeing constructs on two occasions, 12 months apart. Non-Indigenous boys were generally higher in wellbeing compared with Indigenous boys. There was also evidence of improved social wellbeing beyond that of non-Indigenous boarders over time. Overall, while evidence of merit was weak, boarding schools may benefit their Indigenous students’ development in social wellbeing

Eaten out of house and home:impacts of grazing on ground-dwelling reptiles in Australian grasslands and grassy woodlands

Large mammalian grazers can alter the biotic and abiotic features of their environment through their impacts on vegetation. Grazing at moderate intensity has been recommended for biodiversity conservation. Few studies, however, have empirically tested the benefits of moderate grazing intensity in systems dominated by native grazers. Here we investigated the relationship between (1) density of native eastern grey kangaroos, Macropus giganteus, and grass structure, and (2) grass structure and reptiles (i.e. abundance, richness, diversity and occurrence) across 18 grassland and grassy Eucalyptus woodland properties in south-eastern Australia. There was a strong negative relationship between kangaroo density and grass structure after controlling for tree canopy cover. We therefore used grass structure as a surrogate for grazing intensity. Changes in grazing intensity (i.e. grass structure) significantly affected reptile abundance, reptile species richness, reptile species diversity, and the occurrence of several ground-dwelling reptiles. Reptile abundance, species richness and diversity were highest where grazing intensity was low. Importantly, no species of reptile was more likely to occur at high grazing intensities. Legless lizards (Delma impar, D. inornata) were more likely to be detected in areas subject to moderate grazing intensity, whereas one species (Hemiergis talbingoensis) was less likely to be detected in areas subject to intense grazing and three species (Menetia greyii, Morethia boulengeri, and Lampropholis delicata) did not appear to be affected by grazing intensity. Our data indicate that to maximize reptile abundance, species richness, species diversity, and occurrence of several individual species of reptile, managers will need to subject different areas of the landscape to moderate and low grazing intensities and limit the occurrence and extent of high grazing

Getting the jump on skeletal muscle disuse atrophy: preservation of contractile performance in aestivating Cyclorana alboguttata (Gunther 1867)

Prolonged immobilisation or unloading of skeletal muscle causes muscle disuse atrophy, which is characterised by a reduction in muscle cross-sectional area and compromised locomotory function. Animals that enter seasonal dormancy, such as hibernators and aestivators, provide an interesting model for investigating atrophy associated with disuse. Previous research on the amphibian aestivator Cyclorana alboguttata (Gunther 1867) demonstrated an absence of muscle disuse atrophy after 3 months of aestivation, as measured by gastrocnemius muscle contractile properties and locomotor performance. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of aestivation on iliofibularis and sartorius muscle morphology and contractile function of C. alboguttata over a longer, more ecologically relevant time-frame of 9 months. We found that whole muscle mass, muscle cross-sectional area, fibre number and proportions of fibre types remained unchanged after prolonged disuse. There was a significant reduction in iliofibularis fibre cross-sectional area (declined by 36% for oxidative fibre area and 39% for glycolytic fibre area) and sartorius fibre density (declined by 44%). Prolonged aestivation had little effect on the isometric properties of the skeletal muscle of C. alboguttata. There was a significant reduction in the isometric contraction times of the relatively slow-twitch iliofibularis muscle, suggesting that the muscle was becoming slower after 9 months of aestivation (time to peak twitch increased by 25%, time from peak twitch to half relaxation increased by 34% and time from last stimulus to half tetanus relation increased by 20%). However, the results of the work-loop analysis clearly demonstrate that, despite changes to muscle morphology and isometric kinetics, the overall contractile performance and power output levels of muscles from 9-month aestivating C. alboguttata are maintained at control levels

Allometric scaling relationships of jumping performance in the striped marsh frog Limnodynastes peronii

We constructed a force platform to investigate the scaling relationships of the detailed dynamics of jumping performance in striped marsh frogs (Limnodynastes peronii). Data were used to test between two alternative models that describe the scaling of anuran jumping performance; Hill's model, which predicts mass-independence of jump distance, and Marsh's model, which predicts that jump distance increases as M-0.2, where M is body mass. From the force platform, scaling relationships were calculated for maximum jumping force (F-max), acceleration, take-off velocity (U-max), mass- specific jumping power (P-max), total jumping distance (D-J) and total contact time for 75 L. peronii weighing between 2.9 and 38.4 g. F-max was positively correlated with body mass and was described by the equation F-max=0.16M(0.61), while P-max decreased significantly with body mass and was described by the equation P-max=347M(-0.46). Both D-J and U-max were mass- independent over the post-metamorph size range, and thus more closely resembled Hill's model for the scaling of locomotion. We also examined the scaling relationships of jumping performance in metamorph L. peronii by recording the maximum jump distance of 39 animals weighing between 0.19 and 0.58 g. In contrast to the post-metamorphic L. peronii, D-J and U-max were highly dependent on body mass in metamorphs and were described by the equations D-J=38M(0.53) and U-max=1.82M(0.23), respectively. Neither model for the scaling of anuran jumping performance resembled data from metamorph L. peronii. Although the hindlimbs of post-metamorphic L. peronii scaled geometrically (body mass exponent approximately 0.33), the hindlimbs of metamorphs showed greater proportional increases with body mass (mass exponents of 0.41-0.42)

Climate change and hunter-gatherers in montane eastern DR Congo

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