FRET: Validity of a Fall Risk Evaluation Tool for Individuals with Acquired Brain Injuries

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the predictive validity of the Fall Risk Evaluation Tool (FRET) for individuals with acquired brain injuries (ABIs). Methods: Ten participants were included for the study. Inclusion criteria for participants included: age 18 and older, English speaking, 6-months post ABI, ambulatory with or without an assistive device, and uses a wheelchair less than 25% of the day. Exclusion criteria for participants included: global confusion and degenerative neurological conditions. Following the administration of the FRET, participants recorded falls that occurred over the following 3-month study period. Results: Data was analyzed using the Pearson’s r correlation coefficient. No correlation was found between the FRET score and the participants’ reported number of falls during the study period. Correlation between individual subtests within the FRET and actual fall occurrence was also examined. The medication subtest was the only item on the FRET that showed a significant correlation with the participants’ falls. A significant correlation was found between the number of falls during 6-months prior to the study and the fall occurrence during the 3-month study period. Conclusion: There is currently a lack of multi-factorial fall risk assessments specifically designed for individuals with ABIs. The FRET was designed to fill this gap in assessments for individuals with ABIs, although no conclusion can currently be drawn regarding its predictive validity. The study suggests modifications should be made to the FRET to increase the predictive validity the FRET

Medical genetics and epigenetics of telomerase

Telomerase is a specialized reverse transcriptase that extends and maintains the terminal ends of chromosomes, or telomeres. Since its discovery in 1985 by Nobel Laureates Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider, thousands of articles have emerged detailing its significance in telomere function and cell survival. This review provides a current assessment on the importance of telomerase regulation and relates it in terms of medical genetics. In this review, we discuss the recent findings on telomerase regulation, focusing on epigenetics and non-coding RNAs regulation of telomerase, such as microRNAs and the recently discovered telomeric-repeat containing RNA transcripts. Human genetic disorders that develop due to mutations in telomerase subunits, the role of single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes encoding telomerase components and diseases as a result of telomerase regulation going awry are also discussed. Continual investigation of the complex regulation of telomerase will further our insight into the use of controlling telomerase activity in medicine

Novel Method for the Separation of Male and Female Gametocytes of the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum That Enables Biological and Drug Discovery

We developed a flow-cytometry-based method to separate and collect cocultured male and female Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes responsible for malaria transmission. The purity of the collected cells was estimated at >97% using flow cytometry, and sorted cells were observed by Giemsa-stained thin-smear and live-cell fluorescence microscopy. The expression of validated sex-specific markers corroborated the sorting strategy. Collected male and female gametocytes were used to confirm three novel sex-specific markers by quantitative real-time PCR that were more enriched in sorted male and female gametocyte populations than existing sex-specific markers. We also applied the method as a proof-of-principle drug screen that allows the identification of drugs that kill gametocytes in a sex-specific manner. Since the developed method allowed for the separation of male and female parasites from the same culture, we observed for the first time a difference in development time between the sexes: females developed faster than males. Hence, the ability to separate male and female gametocytes opens the door to a new field of sex-specific P. falciparum gametocyte biology to further our understanding of malaria transmission.Funding was provided by the Australian Research Council (DP180103212). M.C.R. is supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and The Australian National Universit

A structural investigation of novel thiophene-functionalized BEDT-TTF donors for application as organic field-effect transistors

Three new unsymmetrical thiophene-functionalized bisIJethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF) donors (1–3) have been synthesized, characterised and examined as semiconducting materials for organic field-effect transistor (OFET) devices. The X-ray crystal structures of (1) and (2) reveal both neutral donors pack as dimers with lateral S⋯S contacts. For (1) the molecules are co-facially stacked in a head-to-tail manner with some degree of latitudinal slippage. A device prepared from a crystalline thin film of (1) deposited on unmodified silicon wafer substrate displays a mobility of 5.9 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1 with an on/off ratio of 11. The shorter CH2 linker in (2) results in poorer orbital overlap, likely due to significant longitudinal and latitudinal slippage between molecules in the crystal lattice. As a consequence, no field-effect response was observed for the device fabricated from (2)

Phenotypic plasticity in normal breast derived epithelial cells

Background Normal, healthy human breast tissue from a variety of volunteer donors has become available for research thanks to the establishment of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center (KTB). Multiple epithelial (K-HME) and stromal cells (K-HMS) were established from the donated tissue. Explant culture was utilized to isolate the cells from pieces of breast tissue. Selective media and trypsinization were employed to select either epithelial cells or stromal cells. The primary, non-transformed epithelial cells, the focus of this study, were characterized by immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and in vitro cell culture. Results All of the primary, non-transformed epithelial cells tested have the ability to differentiate in vitro into a variety of cell types when plated in or on biologic matrices. Cells identified include stratified squamous epithelial, osteoclasts, chondrocytes, adipocytes, neural progenitors/neurons, immature muscle and melanocytes. The cells also express markers of embryonic stem cells. Conclusions The cell culture conditions employed select an epithelial cell that is pluri/multipotent. The plasticity of the epithelial cells developed mimics that seen in metaplastic carcinoma of the breast (MCB), a subtype of triple negative breast cancer; and may provide clues to the origin of this particularly aggressive type of breast cancer. The KTB is a unique biorepository, and the normal breast epithelial cells isolated from donated tissue have significant potential as new research tools

Crop Updates 2003 - Cereals

This session covers twenty one papers from different authors: PLENARY 1. Recognising and responding to new market opportunities in the grains industry, Graham Crosbie, Manager, Grain Products Research, Crop Breeding, Plant Industries, Department of Agriculture 2. Stripe rust – where to now for the WA wheat industry? Robert Loughman1, Colin Wellings2 and Greg Shea11Department of Agriculture, 2University of Sydney Plant Breeding Institute, Cobbitty (on secondment from NSW Agriculture) 3. Benefits of a Grains Biosecurity Plan, Dr Simon McKirdy, Plant Health Australia, Mr Greg Shea, Department of Agriculture 4. Can we improve the drought tolerance of our crops? Neil C. Turner, CSIRO Plant Industry, Wembley 5. The silence of the lambing, Ross Kingwell, Department of Agriculture AGRONOMY AND VARIETIES 6. Maximising performance of wheat varieties, Brenda Shackley, Wal Anderson, Darshan Sharma, Mohammad Amjad, Steve Penny Jr, Melanie Kupsch, Anne Smith, Veronika Reck, Pam Burgess, Glenda Smith and Elizabeth Tierney, Department of Agriculture 7. Wheat variety performance in wet and dry, Peter Burgess 8. e-VarietyGuide for stripe rust – an updated version (1.02 – 2003), Moin Salam, Megan Collins, Art Diggle and Robert Loughman, Department of Agriculture 9. Baudin and Hamelin – new generation of malting barley developed in Western Australia, Blakely Paynter, Roslyn Jettner and Kevin Young, Department of Agriculture 10. Oaten hay production, Jocelyn Ball, Natasha Littlewood and Lucy Anderton, Department of Agriculture 11. Improving waterlogging tolerance in wheat and barley, Irene Waters and Tim Setter, Department of Agriculture 12. Broadscale variety comparisons featuring new wheat varieties, Jeff Russell, Department of Agriculture, Centre for Cropping Systems BIOTECHNOLOGY 13. Barley improvement in the Western Region – the intergration of biotechnologies, Reg Lance, Chengdao Li and Sue Broughton, Department of Agriculture 14. The Western Australian State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre – what we are and what we do, Michael Jones, WA State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Murdoch University 15. Protein and DNA methods for variety identification, Dr Grace Zawko, Saturn Biotech Limited 16. The Centre for High-throughput Agricultural Genetic Analysis (CHAGA), Keith Gregg, CHAGA, Murdoch University NUTRITION 17. Potassium – topdressed, drilled or banded? Stephen Loss, Patrick Gethin, Ryan Guthrie, Daniel Bell, Wesfarmers CSBP 18. Liquid phosphorus fertilisers in WA, Stephen Loss, Frank Ripper, Ryan Guthrie, Daniel Bell and Patrick Gethin, Wesfarmers CSBP 19. Wheat nutrition in the high rainfall cropping zone, Narelle Hill1and Laurence Carslake2, 1Department of Agriculture, 2Wesfarmers Landmark PESTS AND DISEASES 20. Managenent options for root lesion nematode in West Australian cropping systems, Vivien Vanstone, Sean Kelly and Helen Hunter, Department of Agriculture STORAGE 21. Aeration can profit your grain enterprise, Christopher R. Newman, Department of Agricultur

Emergent research and priorities for shark and ray conservation

Over the past 4 decades there has been a growing concern for the conservation status of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). In 2002, the first elasmobranch species were added to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Less than 20 yr later, there were 39 species on Appendix II and 5 on Appendix I. Despite growing concern, effective conservation and management remain challenged by a lack of data on population status for many species, human−wildlife interactions, threats to population viability, and the efficacy of conservation approaches. We surveyed 100 of the most frequently published and cited experts on elasmobranchs and, based on ranked responses, prioritized 20 research questions on elasmobranch conservation. To address these questions, we then convened a group of 47 experts from 35 institutions and 12 countries. The 20 questions were organized into the following broad categories: (1) status and threats, (2) population and ecology, and (3) conservation and management. For each section, we sought to synthesize existing knowledge, describe consensus or diverging views, identify gaps, and suggest promising future directions and research priorities. The resulting synthesis aggregates an array of perspectives on emergent research and priority directions for elasmobranch conservation

The Murchison Widefield Array: The Square Kilometre Array Precursor at Low Radio Frequencies

The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is one of three Square Kilometre Array Precursor telescopes and is located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the Murchison Shire of the mid-west of Western Australia, a location chosen for its extremely low levels of radio frequency interference. The MWA operates at low radio frequencies, 80–300 MHz, with a processed bandwidth of 30.72 MHz for both linear polarisations, and consists of 128 aperture arrays (known as tiles) distributed over a ~3-km diameter area. Novel hybrid hardware/software correlation and a real-time imaging and calibration systems comprise the MWA signal processing backend. In this paper, the as-built MWA is described both at a system and sub-system level, the expected performance of the array is presented, and the science goals of the instrument are summarised