Human bladder uroepithelial cells synergize with monocytes to promote IL-10 synthesis and other cytokine responses to Uropathogenic Escherichia coli

Urinary tract infections are a major source of morbidity for women and the elderly, with Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) being the most prevalent causative pathogen. Studies in recent years have defined a key anti-inflammatory role for Interleukin-10 (IL-10) in urinary tract infection mediated by UPEC and other uropathogens. We investigated the nature of the IL-10-producing interactions between UPEC and host cells by utilising a novel co-culture model that incorporated lymphocytes, mononuclear and uroepithelial cells in histotypic proportions. This co-culture model demonstrated synergistic IL-10 production effects between monocytes and uroepithelial cells following infection with UPEC. Membrane inserts were used to separate the monocyte and uroepithelial cell types during infection and revealed two synergistic IL-10 production effects based on contact-dependent and soluble interactions. Analysis of a comprehensive set of immunologically relevant biomarkers in monocyte-uroepithelial cell co-cultures highlighted that multiple cytokine, chemokine and signalling factors were also produced in a synergistic or antagonistic fashion. These results demonstrate that IL-10 responses to UPEC occur via multiple interactions between several cells types, implying a complex role for infection-related IL-10 during UTI. Development and application of the co-culture model described in this study is thus useful to define the degree of contact dependency of biomarker production to UPEC, and highlights the relevance of histotypic co-cultures in studying complex host-pathogen interactions.

Materials and methods for encapsulation of OPV: A review

Amongst alternative energy sources, photovoltaics hold a considerable promise for it is a plentiful, easily accessible and renewable source of power. Yet, the overall cost of generating electricity using the most advanced silicon based solar cells remains high compared to both traditional and other renewable power generation approaches. Organic thin film photovoltaics are an emerging economically competitive photovoltaic technology that combines manufacturing adaptability, low-cost processing and a lightweight, flexible device end-product. At present, however, commercial use of organic photovoltaics is hindered by low conversion efficiency and poor overall stability of the devices. Encapsulation with high barrier performance materials and structures is one of the key ways to address these issues and improve device lifetime. This paper will briefly outline the current understanding of the major degradation mechanisms, their interrelation and the internal and external factors that initiate these processes. Then, the paper will provide an overview of currently available encapsulant materials, their utility in limiting chemical (water vapor and oxygen penetration) and mechanical degradation within individual layers and device as a whole, and potential drawbacks to their application in organic photovoltaic devices.

Safety impacts of alcohol and other drugs in construction

Estimated 638,400 persons suffered a work-related injury or illness in 2009-2010 and 337 lost their lives as a result in 2009-2010. In 2013-2014, there were 186 fatalities with 29 (16%) occurring in construction. Very little is known about what proportion of accidents are directly attributable to the effects of AOD. Anecdotal evidence highlights issues of AOD and its association with safety risk on construction sites. Research Objective: • To scientifically evaluate the relationship between the use of AOD and the safety impacts within the Australian construction industry to engender a cultural change in the workforce • A nationally consistent and collaborative approach involving government, employers and employees, unions and other key industry stakeholders

Interdependence between Greece and other European stock markets: A comparison of wavelet and VMD copula, and the portfolio implications

The interdependence of Greece and other European stock markets and the subsequent portfolio implications are examined in wavelet and variational mode decomposition domain. In applying the decomposition techniques, we analyze the structural properties of data and distinguish between short and long term dynamics of stock market returns. First, the GARCH-type models are fitted to obtain the standardized residuals. Next, different copula functions are evaluated, and based on the conventional information criteria and time varying parameter, Joe-Clayton copula is chosen to model the tail dependence between the stock markets. The short-run lower tail dependence time paths show a sudden increase in comovement during the global financial crises. The results of the long-run dependence suggest that European stock markets have higher interdependence with Greece stock market. Individual country’s Value at Risk (VaR) separates the countries into two distinct groups. Finally, the two-asset portfolio VaR measures provide potential markets for Greece stock market investment diversification.

Characterization of the carbonic anhydrase gene family and other key osmoregulatory genes in Australian freshwater crayfish (genus Cherax)

Cherax quadricarinatus (Redclaw), C. destructor (Yabby) and C. cainii (Marron) are a group of economically important freshwater crayfish and have been developed for aquaculture production in many countries. As crayfish are farmed in a wide range of culture conditions, optimisation of water quality parameters, are crucial for their maximum growth performance. Previous reports have shown that fluctuations in water quality can negatively impact on growth of crayfish. Therefore, this project aims to identify and characterize the major genes that enable freshwater crayfish to persist in different water chemistries and evaluate their patterns of expression under different water parameters. Overall, this project found a number of candidate genes in all three species and determined that water chemistry had a strong influence on the expression of candidate genes. This information is important in the optimization of water quality parameters in freshwater crayfish aquaculture production.

Dimethyl sulfide and other biogenic volatile organic compound emissions from branching coral and reef seawater: Potential sources of secondary aerosol over the Great Barrier Reef

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the headspace of bubble chambers containing branches of live coral in filtered reef seawater were analysed using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). When the coral released mucus it was a source of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and isoprene; however, these VOCs were not emitted to the chamber headspace from mucus-free coral. This finding, which suggests that coral is an intermittent source of DMS and isoprene, was supported by the observation of occasional large pulses of atmospheric DMS (DMSa) over Heron Island reef on the southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, in the austral winter. The highest DMSa pulse (320 ppt) was three orders of magnitude less than the DMS mixing ratio (460 ppb) measured in the headspace of a dynamically purged bubble chamber containing a mucus-coated branch of Acropora aspera indicating that coral reefs can be strong point sources of DMSa. Static headspace GC-MS analysis of coral fragments identified mainly DMS and seven other minor reduced sulfur compounds including dimethyl disulfide, methyl mercaptan, and carbon disulfide, while coral reef seawater was an indicated source of methylene chloride, acetone, and methyl ethyl ketone. The VOCs emitted by coral and reef seawater are capable of producing new atmospheric particles < 15 nm diameter as observed at Heron Island reef. DMS and isoprene are known to play a role in low-level cloud formation, so aerosol precursors such as these could influence regional climate through a sea surface temperature regulation mechanism hypothesized to operate over the GBR.

Transcriptome analysis and characterisation of gill-expressed carbonic anhydrase and other key osmoregulatory genes in freshwater crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus

The pH and salinity balance mechanisms of crayfish are controlled by a set of transport-related genes. We identified a set of the genes from the gill transcriptome from a freshwater crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus using the Illumina NGS-sequencing technology. We identified and characterized carbonic anhydrase (CA) genes and some other key genes involved in systematic acid-base balance and osmotic/ionic regulation. We also examined expression patterns of some of these genes across different sublethal pH levels [1]. A total of 72,382,710 paired-end Illumina reads were assembled into 36,128 contigs with an average length of 800 bp. About 37% of the contigs received significant BLAST hits and 22% were assigned gene ontology terms. These data will assist in further physiological-genomic studies in crayfish.