Bovine colostrum modulates cytokine production in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide and phytohemagglutinin

Bovine colostrum has been shown to influence the cytokine production of bovine leukocytes. However, it remains unknown whether processed bovine colostrum, a supplement popular among athletes to enhance immune function, is able to modulate cytokine secretion of human lymphocytes and monocytes. The aim of this investigation was to determine the influence of a commercially available bovine colostrum protein concentrate (CPC) to stimulate cytokine production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Blood was sampled from four healthy male endurance athletes who had abstained from exercise for 48 h. PBMCs were separated and cultured with bovine CPC concentrations of 0 (control), 1.25, 2.5, and 5% with and without lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (3 microg/mL) and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) (2.5 microg/mL). Cell supernatants were collected at 6 and 24 h of culture for the determination of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interferon (IFN)-gamma, interleukin (IL)-10, IL-6, IL-4, and IL-2 concentrations. Bovine CPC significantly stimulated the release of IFN-gamma, IL-10, and IL-2 (p < 0.03). The addition of LPS to PBMCs cocultured with bovine CPC significantly stimulated the release of IL-2 and inhibited the early release of TNF, IL-6, and IL-4 (p < 0.02). Phytohemagglutinin stimulation in combination with bovine CPC significantly increased the secretion of IL-10 and IL-2 at 6 h of culture and inhibited IFN-gamma and TNF (p < 0.05). This data show that a commercial bovine CPC is able to modulate in vitro cytokine production of human PBMCs. Alterations in cytokine secretion may be a potential mechanism for reported benefits associated with supplementation.

'Pretend I was Mummy': Children's Production of Authority and Subordinance in Their Pretend Play Interaction During Disputes

Purpose – This chapter examines an episode of pretend play amongst a group of young girls in an elementary school in Australia, highlighting how they interact within the membership categorization device ‘family’ to manage their social and power relationships. Approach – Using conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis, an episode of video-recorded interaction that occurs amongst a group of four young girls is analyzed. Findings – As disputes arise amongst the girls, the mother category is produced as authoritative through authoritative actions by the girl in the category of mother, and displays of subordination on the part of the other children, in the categories of sister, dog and cat. Value of paper – Examining play as a social practice provides insight into the social worlds of children. The analysis shows how the children draw upon and co-construct family-style relationships in a pretend play context, in ways that enable them to build and organize peer interaction. Authority is highlighted as a joint accomplishment that is part of the social and moral order continuously being negotiated by the children. The authority of the mother category is produced and oriented to as a means of managing the disputes within the pretend frame of play.

Utilization and optimization of a waste stream cellulose culture medium for pigment production by Penicillium spp

Aims This research sought to determine optimal corn waste stream–based fermentation medium C and N sources and incubation time to maximize pigment production by an indigenous Indonesian Penicillium spp., as well as to assess pigment pH stability. Methods and Results A Penicillium spp. was isolated from Indonesian soil, identified as Penicillium resticulosum, and used to test the effects of carbon and nitrogen type and concentrations, medium pH, incubation period and furfural on biomass and pigment yield (PY) in a waste corncob hydrolysate basal medium. Maximum red PY (497·03 ± 55·13 mg l−1) was obtained with a 21 : 1 C : N ratio, pH 5·5–6·0; yeast extract-, NH4NO3-, NaNO3-, MgSO4·7H2O-, xylose- or carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)-supplemented medium and 12 days (25°C, 60–70% relative humidity, dark) incubation. C source, C, N and furfural concentration, medium pH and incubation period all influenced biomass and PY. Pigment was pH 2–9 stable. Conclusions Penicillium resticulosum demonstrated microbial pH-stable-pigment production potential using a xylose or CMC and N source, supplemented waste stream cellulose culture medium. Significance and Impact of the Study Corn derived, waste stream cellulose can be used as a culture medium for fungal pigment production. Such application provides a process for agricultural waste stream resource reuse for production of compounds in increasing demand.

Request for production of documents – UCPR r 222 – manner of compliance

In John Kallinicos Accountants Pty Ltd v Dundrenan Pty Ltd [2009] QDC 141 Irwin DCJ considered the nature of a party’s obligation under r 222 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) (UCPR) to produce documents referred to in the parties’ pleadings, particulars or affidavits. The decision examined whether the approach in Belela Pty Ltd v Menzies Excavation Pty Ltd [2005] 2 QdR 230 in relation to disclosure of documents under UCPR r 214 also applied to production of documents under r 222.

The influence of human rights on land rights and spatial information

This paper reviews the growing influence of human rights issues on land rights, administration, management and tenure. In the last few decades, attention focussed on integrating economic and environmental considerations to achieve sustainable land use. The World Trade Organisation began in 1995. As a condition of membership, nations undertook legislative programmes aimed at reducing price distortions and barriers to international trade. Reducing trade barriers has direct effects on agricultural production as a major land use. Similarly, as signatories to the 1992 Rio Declaration, nations undertook caring for and reporting on the state of the environment. However, quality of life is also an issue in deciding what is sustainable development. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed in 1948, provided a framework for a series of international human rights conventions. These conventions now influence national legislative programmes. The purpose of this paper is to review some of the implications of human rights on rights in land and the production and use of spatial information.

A catchment modelling approach integrating surface and groundwater processes, land use and distribution of nutrients : Elimbah Creek, southeast Queensland

As the world’s population is growing, so is the demand for agricultural products. However, natural nitrogen (N) fixation and phosphorus (P) availability cannot sustain the rising agricultural production, thus, the application of N and P fertilisers as additional nutrient sources is common. It is those anthropogenic activities that can contribute high amounts of organic and inorganic nutrients to both surface and groundwaters resulting in degradation of water quality and a possible reduction of aquatic life. In addition, runoff and sewage from urban and residential areas can contain high amounts of inorganic and organic nutrients which may also affect water quality. For example, blooms of the cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula along the coastline of southeast Queensland are an indicator of at least short term decreases of water quality. Although Australian catchments, including those with intensive forms of land use, show in general a low export of nutrients compared to North American and European catchments, certain land use practices may still have a detrimental effect on the coastal environment. Numerous studies are reported on nutrient cycling and associated processes on a catchment scale in the Northern Hemisphere. Comparable studies in Australia, in particular in subtropical regions are, however, limited and there is a paucity in the data, in particular for inorganic and organic forms of nitrogen and phosphorus; these nutrients are important limiting factors in surface waters to promote algal blooms. Therefore, the monitoring of N and P and understanding the sources and pathways of these nutrients within a catchment is important in coastal zone management. Although Australia is the driest continent, in subtropical regions such as southeast Queensland, rainfall patterns have a significant effect on runoff and thus the nutrient cycle at a catchment scale. Increasingly, these rainfall patterns are becoming variable. The monitoring of these climatic conditions and the hydrological response of agricultural catchments is therefore also important to reduce the anthropogenic effects on surface and groundwater quality. This study consists of an integrated hydrological–hydrochemical approach that assesses N and P in an environment with multiple land uses. The main aim is to determine the nutrient cycle within a representative coastal catchment in southeast Queensland, the Elimbah Creek catchment. In particular, the investigation confirms the influence associated with forestry and agriculture on N and P forms, sources, distribution and fate in the surface and groundwaters of this subtropical setting. In addition, the study determines whether N and P are subject to transport into the adjacent estuary and thus into the marine environment; also considered is the effect of local topography, soils and geology on N and P sources and distribution. The thesis is structured on four components individually reported. The first paper determines the controls of catchment settings and processes on stream water, riverbank sediment, and shallow groundwater N and P concentrations, in particular during the extended dry conditions that were encountered during the study. Temporal and spatial factors such as seasonal changes, soil character, land use and catchment morphology are considered as well as their effect on controls over distributions of N and P in surface waters and associated groundwater. A total number of 30 surface and 13 shallow groundwater sampling sites were established throughout the catchment to represent dominant soil types and the land use upstream of each sampling location. Sampling comprises five rounds and was conducted over one year between October 2008 and November 2009. Surface water and groundwater samples were analysed for all major dissolved inorganic forms of N and for total N. Phosphorus was determined in the form of dissolved reactive P (predominantly orthophosphate) and total P. In addition, extracts of stream bank sediments and soil grab samples were analysed for these N and P species. Findings show that major storm events, in particular after long periods of drought conditions, are the driving force of N cycling. This is expressed by higher inorganic N concentrations in the agricultural subcatchment compared to the forested subcatchment. Nitrate N is the dominant inorganic form of N in both the surface and groundwaters and values are significantly higher in the groundwaters. Concentrations in the surface water range from 0.03 to 0.34 mg N L..1; organic N concentrations are considerably higher (average range: 0.33 to 0.85 mg N L..1), in particular in the forested subcatchment. Average NO3-N in the groundwater has a range of 0.39 to 2.08 mg N L..1, and organic N averages between 0.07 and 0.3 mg N L..1. The stream bank sediments are dominated by organic N (range: 0.53 to 0.65 mg N L..1), and the dominant inorganic form of N is NH4-N with values ranging between 0.38 and 0.41 mg N L..1. Topography and soils, however, were not to have a significant effect on N and P concentrations in waters. Detectable phosphorus in the surface and groundwaters of the catchment is limited to several locations typically in the proximity of areas with intensive animal use; in soil and sediments, P is negligible. In the second paper, the stable isotopes of N (14N/15N) and H2O (16O/18O and 2H/H) in surface and groundwaters are used to identify sources of dissolved inorganic and organic N in these waters, and to determine their pathways within the catchment; specific emphasis is placed on the relation of forestry and agriculture. Forestry is predominantly concentrated in the northern subcatchment (Beerburrum Creek) while agriculture is mainly found in the southern subcatchment (Six Mile Creek). Results show that agriculture (horticulture, crops, grazing) is the main source of inorganic N in the surface waters of the agricultural subcatchment, and their isotopic signature shows a close link to evaporation processes that may occur during water storage in farm dams that are used for irrigation. Groundwaters are subject to denitrification processes that may result in reduced dissolved inorganic N concentrations. Soil organic matter delivers most of the inorganic N to the surface water in the forested subcatchment. Here, precipitation and subsequently runoff is the main source of the surface waters. Groundwater in this area is affected by agricultural processes. The findings also show that the catchment can attenuate the effects of anthropogenic land use on surface water quality. Riparian strips of natural remnant vegetation, commonly 50 to 100 m in width, act as buffer zones along the drainage lines in the catchment and remove inorganic N from the soil water before it enters the creek. These riparian buffer zones are common in most agricultural catchments of southeast Queensland and are indicated to reduce the impact of agriculture on stream water quality and subsequently on the estuary and marine environments. This reduction is expressed by a significant decrease in DIN concentrations from 1.6 mg N L..1 to 0.09 mg N L..1, and a decrease in the �15N signatures from upstream surface water locations downstream to the outlet of the agricultural subcatchment. Further testing is, however, necessary to confirm these processes. Most importantly, the amount of N that is transported to the adjacent estuary is shown to be negligible. The third and fourth components of the thesis use a hydrological catchment model approach to determine the water balance of the Elimbah Creek catchment. The model is then used to simulate the effects of land use on the water balance and nutrient loads of the study area. The tool that is used is the internationally widely applied Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Knowledge about the water cycle of a catchment is imperative in nutrient studies as processes such as rainfall, surface runoff, soil infiltration and routing of water through the drainage system are the driving forces of the catchment nutrient cycle. Long-term information about discharge volumes of the creeks and rivers do, however, not exist for a number of agricultural catchments in southeast Queensland, and such information is necessary to calibrate and validate numerical models. Therefore, a two-step modelling approach was used to calibrate and validate parameters values from a near-by gauged reference catchment as starting values for the ungauged Elimbah Creek catchment. Transposing monthly calibrated and validated parameter values from the reference catchment to the ungauged catchment significantly improved model performance showing that the hydrological model of the catchment of interest is a strong predictor of the water water balance. The model efficiency coefficient EF shows that 94% of the simulated discharge matches the observed flow whereas only 54% of the observed streamflow was simulated by the SWAT model prior to using the validated values from the reference catchment. In addition, the hydrological model confirmed that total surface runoff contributes the majority of flow to the surface water in the catchment (65%). Only a small proportion of the water in the creek is contributed by total base-flow (35%). This finding supports the results of the stable isotopes 16O/18O and 2H/H, which show the main source of water in the creeks is either from local precipitation or irrigation waters delivered by surface runoff; a contribution from the groundwater (baseflow) to the creeks could not be identified using 16O/18O and 2H/H. In addition, the SWAT model calculated that around 68% of the rainfall occurring in the catchment is lost through evapotranspiration reflecting the prevailing long-term drought conditions that were observed prior and during the study. Stream discharge from the forested subcatchment was an order of magnitude lower than discharge from the agricultural Six Mile Creek subcatchment. A change in land use from forestry to agriculture did not significantly change the catchment water balance, however, nutrient loads increased considerably. Conversely, a simulated change from agriculture to forestry resulted in a significant decrease of nitrogen loads. The findings of the thesis and the approach used are shown to be of value to catchment water quality monitoring on a wider scale, in particular the implications of mixed land use on nutrient forms, distributions and concentrations. The study confirms that in the tropics and subtropics the water balance is affected by extended dry periods and seasonal rainfall with intensive storm events. In particular, the comprehensive data set of inorganic and organic N and P forms in the surface and groundwaters of this subtropical setting acquired during the one year sampling program may be used in similar catchment hydrological studies where these detailed information is missing. Also, the study concludes that riparian buffer zones along the catchment drainage system attenuate the transport of nitrogen from agricultural sources in the surface water. Concentrations of N decreased from upstream to downstream locations and were negligible at the outlet of the catchment.

Constructing a research network : accounting knowledge in production

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the sociology-of-science type of accounting literature, addressing how accounting knowledge is established, advanced and extended. Design/methodology/approach – The research question is answered through the example of research into linkages between accounting and religion. Adopting an actor-network theory (ANT) approach, the paper follows the actors involved in the construction of accounting as an academic discipline through the controversies in which they engage to develop knowledge. Findings – The paper reveals that accounting knowledge is established, advanced and developed through the ongoing mobilisation of nonhumans (journals) who can enrol other humans and nonhumans. It shows that knowledge advancement, establishment and development is more contingent on network breadth than on research paradigms, which appear as side-effects of positioning vis-a-vis a community. Originality/value – The originality of this paper is twofold. First, ANT is applied to accounting knowledge, whereas the accounting literature applies it to the spread of management accounting ideas, methods and practices. Second, an original methodology for data collection is developed by inviting authors from the network to give a reflexive account of their writings at the time they joined the network. Well diffused in sociology and philosophy, such an approach is, albeit, original in accounting research.

Urban agriculture : a growing field of research workshop at INTERACT 2013

Growing food presents diverse challenges and opportunities within the urban environment. As cities develop, population density rises, land prices rise, and the opportunity to use land for traditional farming and gardening diminishes. Counter to this trend there are a growing number of both community gardens, city farms, guerrilla gardening, rooftop and vertical gardens, pot plants, windowsill herbs, and other balcony or backyard gardens cropping up in different cities, all with a purpose to produce food. This workshop brings to-gether practitioners and researchers in the field of urban agriculture and Hu-man-Computer Interaction to explore and opportunities for technology design to support the different forms of growing practice and foster local food production in cities. This 1-day workshop will serve as an active forum for researchers and practi-tioners across various fields including, but not limited to, agriculture and gar-dening, education, urban planning, human-computer interaction, and communi-ty engagement. This workshop has three distinct points of focus: i) Individual and small-scale gardening and food production, and how to connect like minded people who are involved in these practices to share their knowledge ii) Com-munities involved in urban agriculture, either through community gardens, city farms, or grassroots movements, often dependant on volunteer participation, providing the challenge of managing limited resources iii) Environmental and sociocultural sustainability through urban agriculture. The participants will have an opportunity to present their own work. This will be followed by a visit to a nearby city farm, which will provide a local context for a group design exercise. Finally the workshop will conclude with panel dis-cussions to review opportunities for further research and collaborations beyond the conference. For more information, please visit the workshop website, at http://www.urbaninformatics.net/resources/interact2013cfp/

Transcriptomics approaches to identify genes and markers for production traits in giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

This study used next generation sequencing technologies to investigate growth in a cultured crustacean. The objective was to identify and characterise specific gene loci that contribute important phenotypic variation to growth as well as to develop a large set of SNP markers in candidate genes for assessing correlations between specific mutations and individual growth performance. The genomic dataset generated provides a fundamental resource for application in future crustacean stock improvement programs. Ultimately, the data can be applied to development of culture lines with improved growth performance.

EatChaFood : challenging technology design to slice food waste production

This paper presents work in progress of EatChaFood – a prototype app designed to increase user knowledge of the currently available domestic supply and location of food, with a view to reducing expired household food waste. In order to reap the benefits that EatChaFood can provide we explore ways to overcome manual data entry as a barrier to use. Our user study has to recognise the limitations of the prototype app, and conduct an evaluation of the interaction design built into the app to promote behaviour change. Innovations in the near future such as the automatic scanning of barcodes on food items or photo-recognition will close the gap between perceived prototype usability and usefulness.

Increased plant volatile production affects oviposition, but not larval development, in the moth Helicoverpa armigera

It is well established that herbivorous insects respond to changes in plant odour production, but little attention has been given to whether these responses relate to direct fitness costs of plant volatile production on insect growth and survival. Here, we use transgenic Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) plants that produce relatively large amounts of the volatile (S)-linalool to study whether the responses of egg-laying herbivorous insects to linalool production relate directly to the growth and survival of offspring. In choice tests, fewer eggs were laid on transgenic plants compared with non-transformed controls, indicating that increased linalool emissions have a deterrent effect on Helicoverpa armigera oviposition. Larval survival and larval mass after feeding on transgenic leaves, however, was comparable to non-transformed controls. (S)-linalool, whether in volatile or sequestered form, does not appear to have a direct effect on offspring fitness in this moth. We discuss how the ecology of this polyphagous moth species may necessitate a high tolerance for certain volatiles and their related non-volatile compounds, and suggest that responses by adult female H. armigera moths towards increased linalool production may be context specific and relate to other indirect effects on fitness.

Developing media production skills for literacy in a primary school classroom : digital materials, embodied knowledge and material contexts

This chapter investigates the relationship between technical and operational skills and the development of conceptual knowledge and literacy in Media Arts learning. It argues that there is a relationship between the stories, expressions and ideas that students aim to produce with communications media, and their ability to realise these in material form through technical processes in specific material contexts. Our claim is that there is a relationship between the technical and the operational, along with material relations and the development of conceptual knowledge and literacy in media arts learning. We place more emphasis on the material aspects of literacy than is usually the case in socio-cultural accounts of media literacy. We provide examples from a current project to demonstrate that it is just as important to address the material as it is the discursive and conceptual when considering how students develop media literacy in classroom spaces.

Yersinia high pathogenicity island genes modify the Escherichia coli primary metabolome independently of siderophore production

Bacterial siderophores may enhance pathogenicity by scavenging iron, but their expression has been proposed to exert a substantial metabolic cost. Here we describe a combined metabolomic-genetic approach to determine how mutations affecting the virulence-associated siderophore yersiniabactin affect the Escherichia coli primary metabolome. Contrary to expectations, we did not find yersiniabactin biosynthesis to correspond to consistent metabolomic shifts. Instead, we found that targeted deletion of ybtU or ybtA, dissimilar genes with similar roles in regulating yersiniabactin expression, were associated with a specific shift in arginine pathway metabolites during growth in minimal media. This interaction was associated with high arginine levels in the model uropathogen Escherichia coli UTI89 compared to its ybtU and ybtA mutants and the K12 strain MG1655, which lacks yersiniabactin-associated genes. Because arginine is not a direct yersiniabactin biosynthetic substrate, these findings show that virulence-associated secondary metabolite systems may shape bacterial primary metabolism independently of substrate consumption

If you build it... film studios and the transformative effects of migrating media production

In the years since the release of the film Field of Dreams, the phrase “If you build it, they will come” has become a cliché beloved by journalists, boosters of speculative land developments or remediations and misty-eyed enthusiasts of a host of unlikely schemes. It is one of the articles of faith of the location interest, the coalition of actors motivated to work to attract film business to a particular place. The phrase is full of optimism and potential. It seeks to instill confidence that the construction of production infrastructure like studios and the nourishment of conditions for local service providers will drive the (economic) locomotive and open the (celebrity) stargate. Unfortunately sometimes, it is just a crazy dream.

In Plant Activation: An inducible, hyperexpression platform for recombinant protein production in plants

In this study, we describe a novel protein production platform that provides both activation and amplification of transgene expression in planta. The In Plant Activation (INPACT) system is based on the replication machinery of tobacco yellow dwarf mastrevirus (TYDV) and is essentially transient gene expression from a stably transformed plant, thus combining the advantages of both means of expression. The INPACT cassette is uniquely arranged such that the gene of interest is split and only reconstituted in the presence of the TYDV-encoded Rep/RepA proteins. Rep/RepA expression is placed under the control of the AlcA:AlcR gene switch, which is responsive to trace levels of ethanol. Transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv Samsun) plants containing an INPACT cassette encoding the b-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter had negligible background expression but accumulated very high GUS levels (up to 10% total soluble protein) throughout the plant, within 3 d of a 1% ethanol application. The GUS reporter was replaced with a gene encoding a lethal ribonuclease, barnase, demonstrating that the INPACT system provides exquisite control of transgene expression and can be adapted to potentially toxic or inhibitory compounds. The INPACT gene expression platform is scalable, not host-limited, and has been used to express both a therapeutic and an industrial protein.