Paarpakani: Take Flight

Tjanpi Desert Weavers is the dynamic social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council.  Tjanpi (meaning locally harvested wild grasses) began in 1995 as a series of basket-making workshops facilitated by NPY Women’s Council in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia. Women wanted meaningful and culturally appropriate employment on their homelands to better provide for their families. Building upon a long history of using natural fibres to make objects for ceremonial and daily use, women took quickly to coiled basketry and were soon sharing their newly found skills with relatives and friends on neighbouring communities

Ecological, genetic and cultural status of Solanum aviculare, poroporo (Solanaceae)

Solanum aviculare, endemic to Australasia, is an opportunist pioneer secondary successional plant occupying disturbed and open lowland habitats, and was an important medicinal and cultural species to Māori known as poroporo. It is currently in 'decline', the ecological decline appearing to correspond to a decline in knowledge and cultural use of the species. To gain understanding of the reasons for the decline, enhance ecological knowledge, assist conservation and cultural restoration of Solanum aviculare this research documented the successional role and cycle of regeneration dynamics and tactics, established morphological characteristics, investigated the genetic diversity and recorded cultural and conservation information. The successional status and role was identified. Growth data identified cohort development and inter-site differences, metadata found height and crown spread growth to be significantly correlated and likely part of an early reproduction and dispersal strategy. Germination of soil cores from differing depths confirmed a viable seed bank exists sufficient for species maintenance. Viable seed spread via animal gut passage was determined by germination and chemical tests, results showed rats passed higher rates of viable seed than birds. Seed germination trials with stratified and fresh seed confirmed temporal and depth behaviour, flowering observation documented temporal differences with the closely allied species Solanum laciniatum, indicating a relationship to stasis induction. Leaf morphology studies documented differences between the two allied species and proposed further nomenclature. Genetic diversity was investigated through the use of PCR/ISSR techniques. Chloroplast DNA was extracted by CTAB and DNA kit protocols. CTAB extraction was unable to effectively remove RNA, although use of DNA samples with high quantities of RNA confirmed that RNA was not an inhibiting factor in PCR production. The production of consistent reliable ISSR bands proved difficult, with no technical explanation found. ISSR findings indicate that Solanum aviculare is highly monomorphic, consisting of predominant invariant monomorphic loci. Twenty primers were tested with no polymorphic loci identified and no intra species variation documented. Indications were also that Solanum aviculare and Solanum laciniatum are inter species invariant on monomorphic loci. Monomorphic loci may possibly be the evolutionary markers of generic differentiation within Solanum. Surveys identified Solanum aviculare as uncommon and rare, existing mainly as single plants or small groups in the majority of areas surveyed. The Threatened and Uncommon Plant listing of Solanum aviculare as an 'at risk declining' species is confirmed and a further Recommendation category proposed. Ecological decline and corresponding decline in cultural use and knowledge of Solanum aviculare was identified through specialist interviews; appearing to be related to removal from Māori of control over their land. The name poroporo being now associated mainly with non indigenous Solanum species. Māori cultural concepts in practice were highlighted as fundamentally important to reversing the decline, with an example of a successful traditional practice based (tikanga) integrative collaborative restoration program being documented. This research forwards that optimal collaborative solutions, programs integrating scientific and tikanga knowledge and practices, provide the best opportunity of reversing the declining trend and for increasing and maintaining knowledge associated with the traditional role of poroporo

Tip Cells Act as Dynamic Cellular Anchors in the Morphogenesis of Looped Renal Tubules in Drosophila

SummaryTissue morphogenesis involves both the sculpting of tissue shape and the positioning of tissues relative to one another in the body. Using the renal tubules of Drosophila, we show that a specific distal tubule cell regulates both tissue architecture and position in the body cavity. Focusing on the anterior tubules, we demonstrate that tip cells make transient contacts with alary muscles at abdominal segment boundaries, moving progressively forward as convergent extension movements lengthen the tubule. Tip cell anchorage antagonizes forward-directed, TGF-β-guided tubule elongation, thereby ensuring the looped morphology characteristic of renal tubules from worms to humans. Distinctive tip cell exploratory behavior, adhesion, and basement membrane clearing underlie target recognition and dynamic interactions. Defects in these features obliterate tip cell anchorage, producing misshapen and misplaced tubules with impaired physiological function

Tip cells: Master regulators of tubulogenesis?

AbstractThe normal development of an organ depends on the coordinated regulation of multiple cell activities. Focusing on tubulogenesis, we review the role of specialised cells or groups of cells that are selected from within tissue primordia and differentiate at the outgrowing tips or leading edge of developing tubules. Tip or leading cells develop distinctive patterns of gene expression that enable them to act both as sensors and transmitters of intercellular signalling. This enables them to explore the environment, respond to both tissue intrinsic signals and extrinsic cues from surrounding tissues and to regulate the behaviour of their neighbours, including the setting of cell fate, patterning cell division, inducing polarity and promoting cell movement and cell rearrangements by neighbour exchange. Tip cells are also able to transmit mechanical tension to promote tissue remodelling and, by interacting with the extracellular matrix, they can dictate migratory pathways and organ shape. Where separate tubular structures fuse to form networks, as in the airways of insects or the vascular system of vertebrates, specialised fusion tip cells act to interconnect disparate elements of the developing network. Finally, we consider their importance in the maturation of mature physiological function and in the development of disease

Metabolically active and polyploid renal tissues rely on graded cytoprotection to drive developmental and homeostatic stress resilience

Body tissues are frequently exposed to stress, from toxic byproducts generated during cellular metabolism through to infection or wounding. Although it is well-established that tissues respond to exogenous injury by rapidly upregulating cytoprotective machinery, how energetically demanding tissues – vulnerable to persistent endogenous insult – withstand stress is poorly understood. Here, we show that the cytoprotective factors Nrf2 and Gadd45 act within a specific renal cell subtype, the energetically and biosynthetically active ‘principal’ cells, to drive stress resilience during Drosophila renal development and homeostasis. Renal tubules lacking Gadd45 exhibit striking morphogenetic defects (with cell death, inflammatory infiltration and reduced ploidy) and accumulate significant DNA damage in post-embryonic life. In parallel, the transcription factor Nrf2 is active during periods of intense renal physiological activity, where it protects metabolically active renal cells from oxidative damage. Despite its constitutive nature, renal cytoprotective activity must be precisely balanced and sustained at modest sub-injury levels; indeed, further experimental elevation dramatically perturbs renal development and function. We suggest that tissues requiring long-term protection must employ restrained cytoprotective activity, whereas higher levels might only be beneficial if activated transiently pre-emptive to exogenous insult

Awareness of memory functioning and quality of life for people with dementia and their caregivers

Background: Unawareness of memory functioning is a key symptom of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia that has been demonstrated to be related to a number of important factors for the person with dementia (PwD) and their family caregivers including quality of life and depression. Understanding more about how awareness relates to these factors will help inform how PwD and their caregivers are best supported. Objective: A meta-analysis was conducted in order to examine the relationship between Awareness and depression in dementia. An empirical study was conducted to examine the contribution awareness provides to explaining PWDs’ Quality of Life (QoL). PwD have been found to be aware of factors that affect their caregiver and so caregiver wellbeing and quality of life and the quality of the caregiving relationship were also investigated as well as more established predictors of quality of life for PwD. Both PwD self-ratings and caregiver ratings of the PwD they care for of QoL were examined as they have been shown to be affected by different factors. Method: Meta-analysis: A search of electronic databases Psycinfo, Embase and Medline was conducted. A meta-analysis of correlations was undertaken examining the relationship between awareness and depression in dementia. Empirical study: 27 PwD and their caregivers were recruited. In order to assess the research aims the PwD completed measures of: Quality of life (Quality Of Life-Alzheimer’s Disease scale), awareness of memory functioning (Memory Awareness Rating Scale-Adjusted), cognitive functioning (Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Exam-R), depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). The caregiver completed measures of: PwD Quality of life (Quality Of Life-Alzheimer’s Disease scale proxy), Memory Functioning Scale (from MARSA), self-ratings of depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), activities of daily living (Disability Assessment in Dementia), Neuropsychiatric symptoms (Neuropsychiatric symptoms inventory-Questionnaire), caregiver burden (Zarit Burden Inventory), and rating of relationship quality with PwD (Burns Relationship Satisfaction Scale). Results: Meta-analysis: Thirty-one studies were identified. A small association was found between awareness and depression with substantial amount of heterogeneity (- 0.23). Analysing the studies that excluded major depression demonstrated that mild depression had a moderate negative relationship with awareness (-0.42). Subgroup analysis showed that the different measures of awareness used seemed to suggest different effects with depression for different measures. Empirical study: Awareness was not found to predict PwD rated or caregiver rated QoL. No caregiver variables predicted PwD QoL. Depression and neuropsychiatric symptoms predicted PwD QoL. Caregiver rated QoL was predicted by activities of daily living and caregiver rated quality of caregiving relationship. Conclusions: Meta-analysis: The effect between mild depression and lack of awareness but not major depression supports the assertion that unawareness is a psychological response to decline in memory functioning in dementia. Neither depression nor awareness appear to be unitary constructs in PwD. Empirical study: Awareness not related to PwD QoL. The quality of caregiving relationship is important to QoL in a dementia context. PwD and their caregivers rate the QoL of PwD differently

Fibergramme Vol.37 No. 1

FIBERGRAMME is published in September, November, January, March and May