Disruption of androgen regulation in the prostate by the environmental contaminant hexachlorobenzene

Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is a persistent environmental contaminant that has the potential to interfere with steroid hormone regulation. The prostate requires precise control by androgens to regulate its growth and function. To determine if HCB impacts androgen action in the prostate, we used a number of methods. Our in vitro cell-culture-based assay used a firefly luciferase reporter gene driven by an androgen-responsive promoter. In the presence of dihydrotestosterone, low concentrations (0.5-5 nM) of HCB increased the androgen-responsive production of firefly luciferase and high concentrations of HCB (> 10 microM) suppressed this transcriptional activity. Results from a binding assay showed no evidence of affinity between HCB and the androgen receptor. We also tested HCB for in vivo effects using transgenic mice in which the transgene was a prostate-specific, androgen-responsive promoter upstream of a chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) reporter gene. In 4-week-old mice, the proportion of dilated prostate acini, a marker of sexual maturity, increased in the low HCB dose group and decreased in the high HCB dose mice. In the 8-week-old mice, there was a significant decrease in both CAT activity and prostate weight upon exposure to 20 mg/kg/day HCB. Therefore, in vitro and in vivo data suggest that HCB weakly agonizes androgen action, and consequently, low levels of HCB enhanced androgen action but high levels of HCB interfered. Environmental contaminants have been implicated in the rising incidence of prostate cancer, and insight into the mechanisms of endocrine disruption will help to clarify their role.

Improving reflective writing in higher education : A social semiotic perspective

Reflective skills are widely regarded as a means of improving students’ lifelong learning and professional practice in higher education (Rogers 2001). While the value of reflective practice is widely accepted in educational circles, a critical issue is that reflective writing is complex, and has high rhetorical demands, making it difficult to master unless it is taught in an explicit and systematic way. This paper argues that a functional-semantic approach to language (Eggins 2004), based on Halliday’s (1978) systemic functional linguistics can be used to develop a shared language to explicitly teach and assess reflective writing in higher education courses. The paper outlines key theories and scales of reflection, and then uses systemic functional linguistics to develop a social semiotic model for reflective writing. Examples of reflective writing are analysed to show how such a model can be used explicitly to improve the reflective writing skills of higher education students.

Wireless mobility usage: a preliminary study for management in two Australian university settings

Wireless Mobility Usage: A Preliminary Qualitative Study for Management in Two Australian University Settings, Neville Meyers, Heather Gray, Greg Hearn, Louis Sanzogni, and Sandra Lawrence.

Age and gender differences in ambulance utilisation in Queensland

Introduction Queensland has the highest ambulance utilisation (150 per 1000 population) in Australia and growing 4.4% annually. However, the impact of gender and age on utilisation is unknown. Methods & Materials Data on ambulance utilisation from Queensland Ambulance Service for the period 2002-2009 were analysed. Results Between 2002 and 2009, the number of ambulance patients per 1000 population increased overall by 17% (females) and 18% (males). The utilisation rate remained highest among the elderly but grew differently across age groups. For females, the rates were 55% (0-14yo), 73% (15-29yo), 38% (30-44yo), 22% (45-59yo), -9% (60-74yo) and -6% (75,+ yo); for males they were 48%, 59%, 38%, 17%, -13% and -2% respectively. Within the same age groups and period, the population adjusted number of males per 100 females (M:F ratio) changed from 134 to 128 (-5% growth), 98 to 91 (-8%), 101 to 100 (-0.4%), 115 to 111 (-3%), 114 to 108 (-5%) and 106 to 111 (4%). Conclusion Understanding the impact of patients’ demographic profiles on service utilisation and broader effects on the emergency health system is imperative for policy-making, demand management, designing public health campaigns and health promotions. Gender and age characteristics of ambulance users in Queensland appear to be changing most noticeably in the youngest and oldest groups. Physical and mental health, attitudinal, lifestyle, parenting, financial and socio-cultural reasons may account for these trends, but little evidence exists. A theoretical framework will be discussed to contextualise the findings.

Access and Quality of Heart Failure Management Programs in Australia

Background/aim In response to the high burden of disease associated with chronic heart failure (CHF), in particular the high rates of hospital admissions, dedicated CHF management programs (CHF-MP) have been developed. Over the past five years there has been a rapid growth of CHF-MPs in Australia. Given the apparent mismatch between the demand for, and availability of CHF-MPs, this paper has been designed to discuss the accessibility to and quality of current CHF-MPs in Australia. Methods The data presented in this report has been combined from the research of the co-authors, in particular a review of the inequities in access to chronic heart failure which utilised geographical information systems (GIS) and the survey of heterogeneity in quality and service provision in Australian. Results Of the 62 CHF-MPs surveyed in this study 93% (58) centres had been located areas that are rated as Highly Accessible. This result indicated that most of the CHF-MPs have been located in capital cities or large regional cities. Six percent (4 CHF-MPs) had been located in Accessible areas which were country towns or cities. No CHF-MPs had been established outside of cities to service the estimated 72,000 individuals with CHF living in rural and remote areas. 16% of programs recruited NYHA Class I patients and of these 20% lacked confirmation (echocardiogram) of their diagnosis. Conclusion Overall, these data highlight the urgent need to provide equitable access to CHF-MP's. When establishing CHF-MPs consideration of current evidence based models to ensure quality in practice.

Studies of granulosa cell maturation in dominant and subordinate bovine follicles : novel extracellular matrix focimatrix is co-ordinately regulated with cholesterol side-chain cleavage CYP11A1

During growth of antral ovarian follicles granulosa cells first become associated with a novel type of extracellular matrix, focimatrix, and at larger sizes follicles become either subordinate or dominant. To examine this, bovine subordinate (9.0±s.e.m. 0.4 mm; n=16), partially dominant (12.0±0.6 mm; n=18) and fully dominant (15.0±0.4 mm; n=14) follicles were examined by real time RT-PCR analyses of granulosa cells and by immunohistochemistry of focimatrix. Changes in the expression of FSH receptor, LH receptor, cholesterol side-chain cleavage (CYP11A1), 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, aromatase (CYP19A1) and inhibin-α and β-B were observed as expected for follicle sizes examined. After adjusting for size differences, only CYP11A1 was significantly different between the groups, and elevated in dominant follicles. Also after adjusting for differences in size there were no significant differences in expression of focimatrix components collagen type IV α-1 (COL4A1), laminin β-2, nidogen 1 (NID1), and perlecan (HSPG2) or the volume density of NID1 and -2 and HSPG2. The volume density of focimatrix components in laminin 111 was significantly elevated in dominant follicles. Adjusting for analysis of more than one follicle per animal and for multiple correlations, CYP11A1 mRNA levels were highly correlated with the focimatrix genes COL4A1, NID1 and -2 and HSPG2. Thus, focimatrix may potentially regulate CYP11A1 expression, and the regulation of both could be important in follicular dominance.

Contribution of take-out food consumption to socioeconomic differences in fruit and vegetable intake : a mediation analysis

Lower fruit and vegetable intake among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups has been well documented, and may be a consequence of a higher consumption of take-out foods. This study examined whether, and to what extent, take-out food consumption mediated (explained) the association between socioeconomic position and fruit and vegetable intake. A cross-sectional postal survey was conducted among 1500 randomly selected adults aged 25–64 years in Brisbane, Australia in 2009 (response rate = 63.7%, N = 903). A food frequency questionnaire assessed usual daily servings of fruits and vegetables (0 to 6), overall take-out consumption (times/week) and the consumption of 22 specific take-out items (never to ≥once/day). These specific take-out items were grouped into “less healthy” and “healthy” choices and indices were created for each type of choice (0 to 100). Socioeconomic position was ascertained by education. The analyses were performed using linear regression, and a bootstrap re-sampling approach estimated the statistical significance of the mediated effects. Mean daily serves of fruits and vegetables was 1.89 (SD 1.05) and 2.47 (SD 1.12) respectively. The least educated group were more likely to consume fewer serves of fruit (B= –0.39, p<0.001) and vegetables (B= –0.43, p<0.001) compared with the highest educated. The consumption of “less healthy” take-out food partly explained (mediated) education differences in fruit and vegetable intake; however, no mediating effects were observed for overall and “healthy” take-out consumption. Regular consumption of “less healthy” take-out items may contribute to socioeconomic differences in fruit and vegetable intake, possibly by displacing these foods.

Grotesque gestures or sensuous signs? Rethinking notions of apprenticeship in early childhood education

Education might be conceptualized as a swarm of signs. Deleuze, in Proust and Signs (1964/2000) suggests that “Everything that teaches us something emits signs” (p. 4). Such conceptualizations regard education as fluid, multiple and temporal; a young child can display great skill in decoding some signs but not others. Regarding education as temporal and complex operates at some distance to the sociocultural concepts suggested by Vygotsky (1978) which focus on linear sequences of gaining managed, culturally-loaded knowledge from more experienced others. Despite differing theorizations around apprenticeship, during early years education a child becomes sensitive to signs that collectively prioritize conventionalized knowledge acquisition and communication practices. Drawing for learning and communicating exemplifies apprenticeship as a creative process rather than as sequential or culturally driven, and serves to exemplify Deleuzian concepts around the relationships between time and learning, rather than age or development stage and learning.

Predicting the job satisfaction of female sex workers in Queensland, Australia

This study used a cross-sectional survey to examine job satisfaction and its correlates among 247 female sex workers working as private service providers, in licensed brothels and in illegal sectors of the industry (mainly street-based workers). Overall, most sex workers reported positive job satisfaction. Satisfaction was higher in women working legally and was generally comparable with women from the general population. Multivariate analyses revealed that job satisfaction was significantly linked to women’s reasons for initially entering the industry. Sex workers’ age, education, marital status, length of time in the industry and current working conditions were apparently less important for satisfaction.

Nutritional support in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of nutritional support in the management of malnutrition in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is controversial. Previous meta-analyses, based on only cross-sectional analysis at the end of intervention trials, found no evidence of improved outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to conduct a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to clarify the efficacy of nutritional support in improving intake, anthropometric measures, and grip strength in stable COPD. DESIGN: Literature databases were searched to identify RCTs comparing nutritional support with controls in stable COPD. RESULTS: Thirteen RCTs (n = 439) of nutritional support [dietary advice (1 RCT), oral nutritional supplements (ONS; 11 RCTs), and enteral tube feeding (1 RCT)] with a control comparison were identified. An analysis of the changes induced by nutritional support and those obtained only at the end of the intervention showed significantly greater increases in mean total protein and energy intakes with nutritional support of 14.8 g and 236 kcal daily. Meta-analyses also showed greater mean (±SE) improvements in favor of nutritional support for body weight (1.94 ± 0.26 kg, P < 0.001; 11 studies, n = 308) and grip strength (5.3%, P < 0.050; 4 studies, n = 156), which was not shown by ANOVA at the end of the intervention, largely because of bias associated with baseline imbalance between groups. CONCLUSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis showed that nutritional support, mainly in the form of ONS, improves total intake, anthropometric measures, and grip strength in COPD. These results contrast with the results of previous analyses that were based on only cross-sectional measures at the end of intervention trials.

Urban pre-service teachers’ conceptions of teaching in rural communities

Encouraging quality teaching staff to apply for and accept teaching placements in rural and remote locations is an ongoing concern internationally. The value of different support mechanisms provided for pre-service teachers attending a rural and remote practicum[1] are investigated through theories of place and the school-community nexus. Qualitative data regarding the experiences of the pre-service teachers were collected through interviews and case study notes. This project adds to our understanding of practicum in rural areas by employing a conceptual understanding of place to propose how the experiences of a four-week practicum may contribute to urban pre-service teachers’ conceptions of work and life in a rural community