The expression of plasminogen activator system in a rat model of periodontal wound healing

BACKGROUND: The plasminogen activator system has been proposed to play a role in proteolytic degradation of extracellular matrices in tissue remodeling, including wound healing. The aim of this study was to elucidate the presence of components of the plasminogen activator system during different stages of periodontal wound healing. METHODS: Periodontal wounds were created around the molars of adult rats and healing was followed for 28 days. Immunohistochemical analyses of the healing tissues and an analysis of the periodontal wound healing fluid by ELISA were carried out for the detection of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA), and 2 plasminogen activator inhibitors (PAI-1 and PAI-2). RESULTS: During the early stages (days 1 to 3) of periodontal wound healing, PAI-1 and PAI-2 were found to be closely associated with the deposition of a fibrin clot in the gingival sulcus. These components were strongly associated with the infiltrating inflammatory cells around the fibrin clot. During days 3 to 7, u-PA, PAI-1, and PAI-2 were associated with cells (particularly monocytes/macrophages, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells) in the newly formed granulation tissue. During days 7 to 14, a new attachment apparatus was formed during which PAI-1, PAI-2, and u-PA were localized in both periodontal ligament fibroblasts (PDL) and epithelial cells at sites where these cells were attaching to the root surface. In the periodontal wound healing fluid, the concentration for t-PA increased and peaked during the first week. PAI-2 had a similar expression to t-PA, but at a lower level over the entire wound-healing period. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that the plasminogen activator system is involved in the entire process of periodontal wound healing, in particular with the formation of fibrin matrix on the root surface and its replacement by granulation tissue, as well as the subsequent formation of the attachment of soft tissue to the root surface during the later stages of wound repair.

Differential expression and distribution of syndecan-1 and -2 in periodontal wound healing of the rat

Cell-surface proteoglycans participate in several biological functions including interactions with adhesion molecules, growth factors and a variety of other effector molecules. Accordingly, these molecules play a central role in various aspects of cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions. To investigate the expression and distribution of the cell surface proteoglycans, syndecan-1 and -2, during periodontal wound healing, immunohistochemical analyses were carried out using monoclonal antibodies against syndecan-1, or -2 core proteins. Both syndecan-1 and -2 were expressed and distributed differentially at various stages of early inflammatory cell infiltration, granulation tissue formation, and tissue remodeling in periodontal wound healing. Expression of syndecan-1 was noted in inflammatory cells within and around the fibrin clots during the earliest stages of inflammatory cell infiltration. During granulation tissue formation it was noted in fibroblast-like cells and newly formed blood vessels. Syndecan-1 was not seen in newly formed bone or cementum matrix at any of the time periods studied. Syndecan-1 expression was generally less during the late stages of wound healing but was markedly expressed in cells that were close to the repairing junctional epithelium. In contrast, syndecan-2 expression and distribution was not evident at the early stages of inflammatory cell infiltration. During the formation of granulation tissue and subsequent tissue remodeling, syndecan-2 was expressed extracellularly in the newly formed fibrils which were oriented toward the root surface. Syndecan-2 was found to be significantly expressed on cells that were close to the root surface and within the matrix of repaired cementum covering root dentin as well as at the alveolar bone edge. These findings indicate that syndecan-1 and -2 may have distinctive functions during wound healing of the periodontium. The appearance of syndecan-1 may involve both cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions, while syndecan-2 showed a predilection to associate with cell–matrix interactions during hard tissue formation.

School children’s personal exposure to ultrafine particles in urban environments

This work was motivated by the limited knowledge on personal exposure to ultrafine (UF) particles, and it quantifies school children’s personal exposure to UF particles, in terms of number, using Philips Aerasense Nano Tracers (NTs). This study is being conducted in conjunction with the “Ultrafine Particles from Traffic Emissions and Children’s Health (UPTECH)” project, which aims to determine the relationship between exposure to traffic related UF particles and children’s health (http://www.ilaqh.qut.edu.au/Misc/UPTECH%20 Home.htm). To achieve this, air quality and some health data are being collected at 25 schools within the Brisbane Metropolitan Area in Australia over two years. The school children’s personal exposure to UF particles in the first 17 schools are presented here. These schools were tested between Oct 2010 and Dec 2011. Data collection is expected to be complete by mid 2012.

The impacts of power outages on the residents of contemporary multistorey apartment buildings in subtropical environments

With significant population growth experienced in South East Queensland over the past two decades and a high rate of growth expected to continue in coming decades, the Queensland Government is promoting urban consolidation planning policies to manage growth sustainably. Multi-residential buildings will play an important role in facilitating the increased densities which urban consolidation policies imply. However, a major flood event in January 2011 has brought to light the vulnerability of certain types of multi-residential typologies to power outages. The crisis conditions exposed how contemporary building design and construction practices, coupled with regulatory and planning issues, appear to have compromised the resilience and habitability of multi-storey residential buildings. In the greater urban area of Brisbane, Queensland, the debilitating dependence that certain types of apartment buildings have on mains electricity was highlighted by residents’ experiences of the Brisbane River flood disaster, before, during and after the event. This research examined high density residential buildings in West End, Brisbane, an inner city suburb which was severely affected by the flood and is earmarked for significant urban densification under the Brisbane City Plan. Medium-to-high-density residential buildings in the suburb were mapped in flooded and non-flooded locations and a database containing information about the buildings was created. Parameters included date of construction, number of storeys, systems of access and circulation, and potential for access to natural light and ventilation for habitable areas. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with residents involved in the owners’ management committees of several buildings to verify information the mapping could not provide. The interviews identified a number of critical systems failures due to power outage which had a significant impact on residents’ wellbeing, comfort and safety. Building services such as lifts, running water, fire alarms, security systems and air-conditioning ceased to operate when power was disconnected to neighbourhoods and buildings in anticipation of rising flood waters. Lack of access to buildings and dwellings, lack of safety, lack of building security, and lack of thermal comfort affected many residents whether or not their buildings were actually subjected to inundation, with some buildings rendered uninhabitable for a prolonged period. The extent of the impact on residents was dramatically influenced by the scale and type of building inhabited, with those dwelling in buildings under a 25m height limit, with a single lift, found to be most affected. The energy-dependency and strong trend of increasing power demands of high-rise buildings is well-documented. Extended electricity outages such as the one brought about by the 2011 flood in Queensland are likely to happen more frequently than the 50-year average of the flood event itself. Electricity blackouts can result from a number of man-made or natural causes, including shortages caused by demand exceeding supply. This paper highlights the vulnerability of energy-dependent buildings to power outages and investigates options for energy security for occupants of multi-storey buildings and makes recommendations to increase resilience and general liveability in multi-residential buildings in the subtropics through design modifications.

Improving remote collaborative process modelling using embodiment in 3D virtual environments

Identifying, modelling and documenting business processes usually require the collaboration of many stakeholders that may be spread across companies in inter-organizational settings. While modern process modelling technologies are beginning to provide a number of features to support remote, they lack support for visual cues used in co-located collaboration. In this paper, we examine the importance of visual cues for collaboration tasks in collaborative process modelling. Based on this analysis, we present a prototype 3D virtual world process modelling tool that supports a number of visual cues to facilitate remote collaborative process model creation and validation. We then report on a preliminary analysis of the technology. In conclusion, we proceed to describe the future direction of our research with regards to the theoretical contributions expected from the evaluation of the tool.

Understanding the relationships between the calf muscle pump, ankle range of motion and healing for adults with venous leg ulcers: a review of the literature

Exercise offers the potential to improve circulation, wound healing outcomes, and functional and emotional wellbeing for adults experiencing venous leg ulceration. Individuals with chronic leg ulcers typically have multiple comorbidities such as arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive airways disease, cardiac disease or neuromuscular disorders, which would also benefit from regular exercise. The aim of this review is to highlight the relationships between the calf muscle pump and venous return and range of ankle motion for adults with venous leg ulcers. The effect of exercise will also be considered in relation to the healing rates for adults experiencing venous leg ulceration. The findings suggest there is evidence that exercises which engage the calf muscle pump improve venous return. Ankle range of motion, which is crucial for complete activation of the calf muscle pump, can also be improved with simple, home-based exercise programs. However, observational studies still report that venous leg ulcer patients are less physically active than age-matched controls. Therefore, the behavioural reasons for not exercising must be considered. Only two studies, both underpowered, have assessed the effect of exercise on the healing rates of venous leg ulcers. In conclusion, exercise is feasible with this patient population. However, future studies with larger sample sizes are needed to provide stronger evidence to support the therapeutic benefit of exercise as an adjunct therapy in wound care.

Sensors and imaging for wound healing : a review

Wound healing involves a complex series of biochemical events and has traditionally been managed with 'low tech' dressings and bandages. The concept that diagnostic and theranostic sensors can complement wound management is rapidly growing in popularity as there is tremendous potential to apply this technology to both acute and chronic wounds. Benefits in sensing the wound environment include reduction of hospitalization time, prevention of amputations and better understanding of the processes which impair healing. This review discusses the state-of-the-art in detection of markers associated with wound healing and infection, utilizing devices imbedded within dressings or as point-of-care techniques to allow for continual or rapid wound assessment and monitoring. Approaches include using biological or chemical sensors of wound exudates and volatiles to directly or indirectly detect bacteria, monitor pH, temperature, oxygen and enzymes. Spectroscopic and imaging techniques are also reviewed as advanced wound monitoring techniques. The review concludes with a discussion of the limitations of and future directions for this field.

Positive impacts of environmental characteristics on health and wellbeing in health-care facilities : a review

Well-designed indoor environments can support people’s health and welfare. In this literature review, we identify the environmental features that affect human health and wellbeing. Environmental characteristics found to influence health outcomes and/or wellbeing included: environmental safety; indoor air quality (e.g. odour and temperature); sound and noise; premises and interior design (e.g. construction materials, viewing nature and experiencing nature, windows versus no windows, light, colours, unit layout and placement of the furniture, the type of room, possibilities to control environmental elements, environmental complexity and sensory simulations, cleanliness, ergonomics and accessibility, ‛‛wayfinding’’); art, and music, among others. Indoor environments that incorporate healing elements can, for instance, reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, lessen pain and shorten hospital stays.

Fusion or non fusion of coral fragments in Acropora

Corals inhabit high energy environments where frequent disturbances result in physical damage to coralla, including fragmentation, as well as generating and mobilizing large sediment clasts. The branching growth form common in the Acropora genus makes it particularly susceptible to such disturbances and therefore useful for study of the fate of large sediment clasts. Living Acropora samples with natural, extraneous, broken coral branches incorporated on their living surface and dead Acropora skeletons containing embedded clasts of isolated branch sections of Acropora were observed and/or collected from the reef flat of Heron Reef, southern Great Barrier Reef and Bargara, Australia respectively. Here we report three different outcomes when pebble-sized coral branches became lodged on living coral colonies during sedimentation events in natural settings in Acropora: 1) Where live coral branches produced during a disturbance event come to rest on probable genetic clone-mate colonies they become rapidly stabilised leading to complete soft tissue and skeletal fusion; 2) Where the branch and underlying colony are not clone-mates, but may still be the same or similar species, the branches still may be stabilised rapidly by soft tissue, but then one species will overgrow the other; and 3) Where branches represent dead skeletal debris, they are treated like any foreign clast and are surrounded by clypeotheca and incorporated into the corallum by overgrowth. The retention of branch fragments on colonies in high energy reef flat settings may suggest an active role of coral polyps to recognise and fuse with each other. Also, in all cases the healing of disturbed tissue and subsequent skeletal growth is an adaptation important for protecting colonies from invasion by parasites and other benthos following disturbance events and may also serve to increase corallum strength. Knowledge of such adaptations is important in studies of coral behaviour during periods of environmental stress.

Ambient media for the third place in urban environments

As ambient computing blends into the fabric of the modern urban environment developing a positive interplay between people, places, and technology to create enlivened, interactive cities becomes a necessary priority in how we imagine, understand, design, and develop cities. Designing technology for art, culture and gastronomic experiences, that are rich in community, can provide the means for collaborative action to (re)create cities that are lively, engaging, and promote a sense of well being as well as belonging.

A qualitative investigation into the different health experiences of people living with type II diabetes, in the rural environments

Study Rationale The objective of the study was to explore if and how rural culture influences type II diabetes management and to better understand the social processes that rural people construct in coping with diabetes and its complications. In particular, the study aimed to analyse the interface and interactions between rural people with type II diabetes and the Australian health care system. Theoretical framework and methods The research applied constructivist grounded theory methods within an interpretive interactionist framework. Data from 39 semi-structured interviews with rural and urban people with type II diabetes plus a mix of rural health care providers were analysed to develop a theoretical understanding of the social processes that define diabetes management in that context. Results The analysis suggests that although type II diabetes imposes limitations that require adjustment and adaptation these processes are actively negotiated by rural people within the environmental context to fit the salient social understandings of autonomy and self-reliance. Thus people normalised self-reliant diabetes management behaviours because this was congruent with the rural culture. Factors that informed the actions of normalisation were the relationships between participants and health care professions, support and access to individual resources. Conclusions The findings point to ways in which rural self-reliance is conceived as the primary strategy of diabetic management. People face the paradox of engaging with a health care system that at the same time maximises individual responsibility for health and minimises the social support by which individuals manage the condition. The emphasis on self-reliance gives some legitimacy to a lack of prevention and chronic care services. Success of diabetic management behaviours is contingent on relative resources. Where there is good primary care there develop a number of downstream effects including a sense of empowerment to manage difficult rural environmental circumstances. This has particular bearing on health outcomes for people with fewer resources.

Using social media to facilitate knowledge transfer in complex engineering environments : a primer for educators

While highly cohesive groups are potentially advantageous they are also often correlated with the emergence of knowledge and information silos based around those same functional or occupational clusters. Consequently, an essential challenge for engineering organisations wishing to overcome informational silos is to implement mechanisms that facilitate, encourage and sustain interactions between otherwise disconnected groups. This paper acts as a primer for those seeking to gain an understanding of the design, functionality and utility of a suite of software tools generically termed social media technologies in the context of optimising the management of tacit engineering knowledge. Underpinned by knowledge management theory and using detailed case examples, this paper explores how social media technologies achieve such goals, allowing for the transfer of knowledge by tapping into the tacit and explicit knowledge of disparate groups in complex engineering environments.

Dichotomy in the design studio 2.0 : adapting to new blended learning environments

In a study aimed at better understanding how students adapt to new blended studio learning environments, all undergraduate and masters of architecture students at a large school of architecture in Australia, learned a semester of architectural design in newly renovated, technology embedded, design studio environments. The renovations addressed the lessons learned from a 2011 pilot study of a second year architectural design studio learned in a high technology embedded prototype digital laboratory. The new design studios were purpose designed for the architecture students and adapted Student-Centred Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs design principles. At the end of the semester, the students completed a questionnaire about their experiences of learning in the new design studio environments. Using a dual method qualitative approach, the questionnaire data were coded and extrapolated using both thematic analysis and grounded theory methodology. The results from these two approaches were compared, contrasted and finally merged, to reveal five distinct emerging themes, which were instrumental in offering resistance or influencing adaptation to, the new blended studio learning environments. This paper reports on the study, discusses the major contributors to resistance and adaptation, and proposes points for consideration when renovating or designing new blended studio learning environments. This research extends the 2011 pilot study by the same authors: ‘Dichotomy in the design studio: Adapting to new blended learning environments’.

Mobility and active ageing in suburban environments : findings from in-depth interviews and person-based GPS tracking

Background. Governments face a significant challenge to ensure that community environments meet the mobility needs of an ageing population. Therefore, it is critical to investigate the effect of suburban environments on the choice of transportation and its relation to participation and active ageing. Objective. This research explores if and how suburban environments impact older people’s mobility and their use of different modes of transport. Methods. Data derived from GPS tracking, travel diaries, brief questionnaires, and semistructured interviews were gathered from thirteen people aged from 56 to 87 years, living in low-density suburban environments in Brisbane, Australia. Results. The suburban environment influenced the choice of transportation and out-of-home mobility. Both walkability and public transportation (access and usability) impact older people’s transportation choices. Impracticality of active and public transportation within suburban environments creates car dependency in older age. Conclusion. Suburban environments often create barriers to mobility, which impedes older people’s engagement in their wider community and ability to actively age in place. Further research is needed to develop approaches towards age-friendly suburban environments which will encourage older people to remain active and engaged in older age.

Reduced Il17a expression distinguishes a Ly6cloMHCIIhi macrophage population promoting wound healing

Macrophages are the main components of inflammation during skin wound healing. They are critical in wound closure and in excessive inflammation, resulting in defective healing observed in chronic wounds. Given the heterogeneity of macrophage phenotypes and functions, we here hypothesized that different subpopulations of macrophages would have different and sometimes opposing effects on wound healing. Using multimarker flow cytometry and RNA expression array analyses on macrophage subpopulations from wound granulation tissue, we identified a Ly6cloMHCIIhi “noninflammatory” subset that increased both in absolute number and proportion during normal wound healing and was missing in Ob/Ob and MYD88−/− models of delayed healing. We also identified IL17 as the main cytokine distinguishing this population from proinflammatory macrophages and demonstrated that inhibition of IL17 by blocking Ab or in IL17A−/− mice accelerated normal and delayed healing. These findings dissect the complexity of the role and activity of the macrophages during wound inflammation and may contribute to the development of therapeutic approaches to restore healing in chronic wounds.