Preexercise aminoacidemia and muscle protein synthesis after resistance exercise

PURPOSE We have previously shown that the aminoacidemia caused by the consumption of a rapidly digested protein after resistance exercise enhances muscle protein synthesis (MPS) more than the amino acid (AA) profile associated with a slowly digested protein. Here, we investigated whether differential feeding patterns of a whey protein mixture commencing before exercise affect postexercise intracellular signaling and MPS. METHODS Twelve resistance-trained males performed leg resistance exercise 45 min after commencing each of three volume-matched nutrition protocols: placebo (PLAC, artificially sweetened water), BOLUS (25 g of whey protein + 5 g of leucine dissolved in artificially sweetened water; 1× 500 mL), or PULSE (15× 33-mL aliquots of BOLUS drink every 15 min). RESULTS The preexercise rise in plasma AA concentration with PULSE was attenuated compared with BOLUS (P < 0.05); this effect was reversed after exercise, with two-fold greater leucine concentrations in PULSE compared with BOLUS (P < 0.05). One-hour postexercise, phosphorylation of p70 S6K and rpS6 was increased above baseline with BOLUS and PULSE, but not PLAC (P < 0.05); furthermore, PULSE > BOLUS (P < 0.05). MPS throughout 5 h of recovery was higher with protein ingestion compared with PLAC (0.037 ± 0.007), with no differences between BOLUS or PULSE (0.085 ± 0.013 vs. 0.095 ± 0.010%•h, respectively, P = 0.56). CONCLUSIONS Manipulation of aminoacidemia before resistance exercise via different patterns of intake of protein altered plasma AA profiles and postexercise intracellular signaling. However, there was no difference in the enhancement of the muscle protein synthetic response after exercise. Protein sources producing a slow AA release, when consumed before resistance exercise in sufficient amounts, are as effective as rapidly digested proteins in promoting postexercise MPS.

Restorative justice and “Empowerment” : producing and governing active subjects through “Empowering” practices

During the last quarter-century, restorative justice has emerged as a widely utilised response to crime in Western nations. This article, which stems from a Foucauldian genealogy of restorative justice, argues that its embeddedness within the discourse of ‘‘empowerment’’ renders restorative justice a politically acceptable response to crime. ‘‘Empowerment’’, it is argued, is one of many conditions of emergence of restorative justice. The discourse of ‘‘empowerment’’ underpins restorative justice in tangible ways, and has informed legislation and policy in Western jurisdictions. This article seeks to problematise the taken-for-granted nature of this discourse. It argues that the discourse of ‘‘empowerment’’ produces restorative justice subjects who are increasingly governed and governable. As ‘‘empowering’’ restorative practices are targeted towards ‘‘disempowered’’ individuals and communities, concerns are raised about the potential of restorative justice to disproportionately impact upon socially marginalised populations and to increase social exclusion.

A randomised, concentration-controlled, comparison of standard (5-day) vs. prolonged (15-day) infusions of etoposide phosphate in small-cell lung cancer

Purpose: This randomised trial was designed to investigate the activity and toxicity of continuous infusion etoposide phosphate (EP), targeting a plasma etoposide concentration of either 3 μg/ml for five days (5d) or 1 μg/ml for 15 days (15d), in previously untreated SCLC patients with extensive disease. Patients and methods: EP was used as a single agent. Plasma etoposide concentration was monitored on days 2 and 4 in patients receiving 5d EP and on days 2, 5, 8 and 11 in patients receiving 15d EP, with infusion modification to ensure target concentrations were achieved. Treatment was repeated every 21 days for up to six cycles, with a 25% reduction in target concentration in patients with toxicity. Results: The study has closed early after entry of 29 patients (14 with 5d EP, 15 with 15d EP). Objective responses were seen in seven of 12 (58%, confidence interval (CI): 27%-85%) evaluable patients after 5d EP, and two of 14 (14%, CI: 4%42%) evaluable patients after 15d EP (P = 0.038). Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia or leucopenia during the first cycle of treatment was observed in six of 12 patients after 5d EP and 0/14 patients after 15d EP (P = 0.004), with median nadir WBC count of 2.6 x 109/1 after 5d and 5.0 x 109/1 after 15d EP (P = 0.017). Only one of 49 cycles of 15d EP was associated with grade 3 or worse haematological toxicity, compared to 14 of 61 cycles of 5d EP. Conclusions: Although the number of patients entered into this trial was small, the low activity seen at 1 μg/ml in the 15d arm suggests that this concentration is below the therapeutic window in this setting. Further concentration- controlled studies with prolonged EP infusions are required.

Characteristics of nontuberculous mycobacteria from a municipal water distribution system and their relevance to human infections

This thesis documented pathogenic species of nontuberculous mycobacteria in the Brisbane water distribution system. When water and shower aerosol strains were compared with human strains of mycobacteria, the study found that the likelihood of acquiring infection from municipal water was specific for four main species. The method for isolation of mycobacteria from water was refined, followed by sampling from 220 sites across Brisbane. A variety of species (incl 15 pathogens) were identified and genotypically compared to human strains. For M. abscessus and M. lentiflavum, water strains clustered with human strains. Pathogenic strains of M. kansasii were found, though non-pathogenic strains dominated. Waterborne strains of M. fortuitum differed to human strains. Extensive home sampling of 20 patients with NTM disease, supported the theory that the risk of acquiring NTM from water or shower aerosols appears species specific for M. avium, M. kansasii, M. lentiflavum and M. abscessus.

Geologic map of the Valley Mountain 15’ quadrangle, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ–1767, scale 1:62,500

The Valley Mountain 15’ quadrangle straddles the Pinto Mountain Fault, which bounds the eastern Transverse Ranges in the south against the Mojave Desert province in the north. The Pinto Mountains, part of the eastern Transverse Ranges in the south part of the quadrangle expose a series of Paleoproterozoic gneisses and granite and the Proterozoic quartzite of Pinto Mountain. Early Triassic quartz monzonite intruded the gneisses and was ductiley deformed prior to voluminous Jurassic intrusion of diorite, granodiorite, quartz monzonite, and granite plutons. The Jurassic rocks include part of the Bullion Mountains Intrusive Suite, which crops out prominently at Valley Mountain and in the Bullion Mountains, as well as in the Pinto Mountains. Jurassic plutons in the southwest part of the quadrangle are deeply denuded from midcrustal emplacement levels in contrast to supracrustal Jurassic limestone and volcanic rocks exposed in the northeast. Dikes inferred to be part of the Jurassic Independence Dike Swarm intrude the Jurassic plutons and Proterozoic rocks. Late Cretaceous intrusion of the Cadiz Valley Batholith in the northeast caused contact metamorphism of adjacent Jurassic plutonic rocks...

Empirical approaches in knowledge city research

In the 21st century, it has become apparent that ‘knowledge’ is a major factor of postmodern production (Yigitcanlar et al., 2007). Beyond this, in today’s rapidly globalizing world, knowledge, along with the social and technological settings, is seen as a key to secure economic prosperity and quality of life (Yigitcanlar et al., 2008a). However, limiting the benefits of a ‘knowledge-based development’ to only economic gains—and to a degree to social ones—is quite a narrow sighted view (Yigitcanlar et al., 2008b). Thus, the concept of ‘knowledge-based urban development’ is coined to bring economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, a just socio-spatial order and good governance to cities, and as a result producing a purposefully designed city—i.e., ‘knowledge city’—generating positive environmental and governance outcomes as well as economic and societal ones (Yigitcanlar, 2011; Carrillo et al., 2014).

The visibility of disaster deaths in news images : a comparison of newspapers from 15 countries

The extent to which newspapers display graphic images of death has rarely been studied in relation to the degree of the visibility of bodies, nor do many comparative analyses exist. This has led to a narrow understanding of how and why audiences are exposed to human suffering around the world. In examining newspaper images of the dead from the 2010 Haiti earthquake across 15 countries, this study develops a graphic image content scale to measure such visualizations. It finds significant differences in graphic images across the studied sample, both in terms of the amount of images and the degree of visibility of death. The study argues that major sociocultural influences, such as different religious traditions and societal levels of violence are part of the reason for the differences.

Producing while consuming: Social interaction around photos shared within private group

User-generated content plays a pivotal role in the current social media. The main focus, however, has been on the explicitly generated user content such as photos, videos and status updates on different social networking sites. In this paper, we explore the potential of implicitly generated user content, based on users’ online consumption behaviors. It is technically feasible to record users’ consumption behaviors on mobile devices and share that with relevant people. Mobile devices with such capabilities could enrich social interactions around the consumed content, but it may also threaten users’ privacy. To understand the potentials of this design direction we created and evaluated a low-fidelity prototype intended for photo sharing within private groups. Our prototype incorporates two design concepts, namely, FingerPrint and MoodPhotos that leverage users’ consumption history and emotional responses. In this paper, we report user values and user acceptance of this prototype from three participatory design workshops.

Antibacterial anthranilic acid derivatives from Geijera parviflora

Five anthranilic acid derivatives, a mixture I of three new compounds 11′-hexadecenoylanthranilic acid (1), 9′-hexadecenoylanthranilic acid (2), and 7′-hexadecenoylanthranilic acid (3), as well as a new compound 9,12,15-octadecatrienoylanthranilic acid (4) together with a new natural product, hexadecanoylanthranilic acid (5), were isolated from Geijera parviflora Lindl. (Rutaceae). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic measurements, and the positions of the double bonds in compounds 1-3 of the mixture I were determined by tandem mass spectrometry employing ozone-induced dissociation. The mixture I and compound 5 showed good antibacterial activity against several Gram-positive strains. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in Queensland, Australia

Background: International epidemic clones (ribotypes 027 and 078) of Clostridium difficile have been associated with death, toxic megacolon and other adverse outcomes in North America and Europe. In 2010, the first local transmission of an epidemic strain (027) of C. difficile was reported in the state of Victoria, Australia, but no cases of infection with this strain were reported in the state of Queensland. In 2012, a prevalence study was undertaken in all public and selected private hospitals to examine the epidemiology of CDI and determine the prevalence of epidemic C. difficile strains in Queensland. Methods: Enhanced surveillance was undertaken on all hospital identified CDI cases aged over 2 years between 10 April and 15 June 2012. Where available, patient samples were cultured and isolates of C. difficile ribotyped. The toxin profile of each isolate was determined by PCR. Results: In total, 168 cases of CDI were identified during the study period. A majority (58.3%) of cases had onset of symptoms in hospital. Of the 62 patients with community onset of symptoms, most (74%) had a hospital admission in the previous 3 months. Only 4 of 168 patients had onset of symptoms within a residential care facility. Thirteen out of the 168 (7.7%) patients included in the study had severe disease (ICU admission and/or death within 30 days of onset). Overall 136/168 (81%) of cases had been prescribed antibiotics in the last month. Of concern was the emergence of a novel ribotype (244) which has recently been described in other parts of Australia and is genetically related to ribotype 027. Seven patients were infected with C. difficile ribotype 244 (8% of 83 samples ribotyped), including one patient requiring ICU admission and one patient who died. Ribotype 244 was tcdA, tcdB and CDT positive and contained a tcdC mutation at position 117. Conclusion: Ongoing surveillance is required to determine the origin and epidemiology of C. difficile ribotype 244 infections in Australia.

Impact of a change in tillage and crop residue management practice on soil chemical and microbiological properties in a cereal-producing red duplex soil in NSW, Australia

The effect of a change of tillage and crop residue management practice on the chemical and micro-biological properties of a cereal-producing red duplex soil was investigated by superimposing each of three management practices (CC: conventional cultivation, stubble burnt, crop conventionally sown; DD: direct-drilling, stubble retained, no cultivation, crop direct-drilled; SI: stubble incorporated with a single cultivation, crop conventionally sown), for a 3-year period on plots previously managed with each of the same three practices for 14 years. A change from DD to CC or SI practice resulted in a significant decline, in the top 0-5 cm of soil, in organic C, total N, electrical conductivity, NH4-N, NO3-N, soil moisture holding capacity, microbial biomass and CO2 respiration as well as a decline in the microbial quotient (the ratio of microbial biomass C to organic C; P <0.05). In contrast, a change from SI to DD or CC practice or a change from CC to DD or SI practice had only negligible impact on soil chemical properties (P >0.05). However, there was a significant increase in microbial biomass and the microbial quotient in the top 0-5 cm of soil following the change from CC to DD or SI practice and with the change from SI to DD practice (P <0.05). Analysis of ester-linked fatty acid methyl esters (EL-FAMEs) extracted from the 0- to 5-cm and 5- to 10-cm layers of the soils of the various treatments detected changes in the FAME profiles following a change in tillage practice. A change from DD practice to SI or CC practice was associated with a significant decline in the ratio of fungal to bacterial fatty acids in the 0- to 5-cm soil (P <0.05). The results show that a change in tillage practice, particularly the cultivation of a previously minimum-tilled (direct-drilled) soil, will result in significant changes in soil chemical and microbiological properties within a 3-year period. They also show that soil microbiological properties are sensitive indicators of a change in tillage practice.

DDT resistance and transformation by different microbial strains isolated from DDT-contaminated soils and compost materials

Bioremediation is a potential option to treat 1, 1, 1-trichloro-2, 2 bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDT) contaminated sites. In areas where suitable microbes are not present, the use of DDT resistant microbial inoculants may be necessary. It is vital that such inoculants do not produce recalcitrant breakdown products e.g. 1, 1-dichloro-2, 2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethylene (DDE). Therefore, this work aimed to screen DDT-contaminated soil and compost materials for the presence of DDT-resistant microbes for use as potential inoculants. Four compost amended soils, contaminated with different concentrations of DDT, were used to isolate DDT-resistant microbes in media containing 150 mg I -1 DDT at three temperatures (25, 37 and 55°C). In all soils, bacteria were more sensitive to DDT than actinomycetes and fungi. Bacteria isolated at 55°C from any source were the most DDT sensitive. However DDT-resistant bacterial strains showed more promise in degrading DDT than isolated fungal strains, as 1, 1-dichloro 2, 2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDD) was a major bacterial transformation product, while fungi tended to produce more DDE. Further studies on selected bacterial isolates found that the most promising bacterial strain (Bacillus sp. BHD-4) could remove 51% of DDT from liquid culture after 7 days growth. Of the amount transformed, 6% was found as DDD and 3% as DDE suggesting that further transformation of DDT and its metabolites occurred.

The effect of the histological properties of tumors on transfection efficiency of electrically assisted gene delivery to solid tumors in mice

Uniform DNA distribution in tumors is a prerequisite step for high transfection efficiency in solid tumors. To improve the transfection efficiency of electrically assisted gene delivery to solid tumors in vivo, we explored how tumor histological properties affected transfection efficiency. In four different tumor types (B16F1, EAT, SA-1 and LPB), proteoglycan and collagen content was morphometrically analyzed, and cell size and cell density were determined in paraffin-embedded tumor sections under a transmission microscope. To demonstrate the influence of the histological properties of solid tumors on electrically assisted gene delivery, the correlation between histological properties and transfection efficiency with regard to the time interval between DNA injection and electroporation was determined. Our data demonstrate that soft tumors with larger spherical cells, low proteoglycan and collagen content, and low cell density are more effectively transfected (B16F1 and EAT) than rigid tumors with high proteoglycan and collagen content, small spindle-shaped cells and high cell density (LPB and SA-1). Furthermore, an optimal time interval for increased transfection exists only in soft tumors, this being in the range of 5-15 min. Therefore, knowledge about the histology of tumors is important in planning electrogene therapy with respect to the time interval between DNA injection and electroporation.

The value of storytelling

Considering the embodied carbon in existing buildings where expenditure has already occurred, the retrofitting of existing buildings presents a significant opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint of our built environment. In Australia there is also a renewed awareness of the importance of our cultural heritage and the adaptive reuse of our historic buildings is increasingly discussed as a preservation strategy. The ‘design’ phase in building projects is credited with providing “an unparalleled window of opportunity to address environmental objectives” and fostering sustainable development, with up to 80% of overall environmental impacts determined by the decisions made at this stage. Both design and built environment professionals appreciate that a holistic and ‘whole systems’ approach is key in enabling transformation. The design process often comprises of many divergent and convergent activities, many of which seek to understand the people and context. The design process for heritage building adaptive reuse projects revolves around producing or referring to a conservation management plan that articulates what is and isn't heritage fabric. In an Australian context, and according to literature and the emerging results of a series of semi-structured interviews undertaken with designers of such projects, the key themes integral to success are: business case, vision, communication & collaboration, values, and storytelling.

Molecular characterization of Escherichia coli strains that cause symptomatic and asymptomatic urinary tract infections

The differences between Escherichia coli strains associated with symptomatic and asymptomatic urinary tract infections (UTIs) remain to be properly determined. Here we examined the prevalence of plasmid types and bacteriocins, as well as genetic relatedness, in a defined collection of E. coli strains that cause UTIs. Comparative analysis identified a subgroup of strains with a high number of virulence genes (VGs) and microcins M/H47. We also identified associations between microcin genes, VGs, and specific plasmid types.