The effects of dietary fish oil on inflammation, fibrosis and oxidative stress associated with obstructive renal injury in rats.

Scope: We examined whether dietary supplementation with fish oil modulates inflammation, fibrosis and oxidative stress following obstructive renal injury. Methods and results: Three groups of Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 16 per group) were fed for 4 wk on normal rat chow (oleic acid), chow containing fish oil (33 g eicosapentaenoic acid and 26 g docosahexaenoic acid per kg diet), or chow containing safflower oil (60 g linoleic acid per kg diet). All diets contained 7% fat. After 4 wk, the rats were further subdivided into four smaller groups (n = 4 per group). Unilateral ureteral obstruction was induced in three groups (for 4, 7 and 14 days). The fourth group for each diet did not undergo surgery, and was sacrificed as controls at 14 days. When rats were sacrificed, plasma and portions of the kidneys were removed and frozen; other portions of kidney tissue were fixed and prepared for histology. Compared with normal chow and safflower oil, fish oil attenuated collagen deposition, macrophage infiltration, TGF-beta expression, apoptosis, and tissue levels of arachidonic acid, MIP-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, MCP-1 and leukotriene B(4). Compared with normal chow, fish oil increased the expression of HO-1 protein in kidney tissue. Conclusions: Fish oil intake reduced inflammation, fibrosis and oxidative stress following obstructive renal injury.

The backfilled GEI : a cross-capture modality gait feature for frontal and side-view gait recognition

In this paper, we propose a novel direction for gait recognition research by proposing a new capture-modality independent, appearance-based feature which we call the Back-filled Gait Energy Image (BGEI). It can can be constructed from both frontal depth images, as well as the more commonly used side-view silhouettes, allowing the feature to be applied across these two differing capturing systems using the same enrolled database. To evaluate this new feature, a frontally captured depth-based gait dataset was created containing 37 unique subjects, a subset of which also contained sequences captured from the side. The results demonstrate that the BGEI can effectively be used to identify subjects through their gait across these two differing input devices, achieving rank-1 match rate of 100%, in our experiments. We also compare the BGEI against the GEI and GEV in their respective domains, using the CASIA dataset and our depth dataset, showing that it compares favourably against them. The experiments conducted were performed using a sparse representation based classifier with a locally discriminating input feature space, which show significant improvement in performance over other classifiers used in gait recognition literature, achieving state of the art results with the GEI on the CASIA dataset.

Wrong way go back! Rediscovering the path for charity law reform

Problems with charity law jurisprudence persist. The difficulties arose in the 20th century and are fundamental to the way the doctrine is presently theorised. They grew out of the approach taken in Pemsel’s Case to the categorisation of the ‘spirit and intendment’ of the Preamble to the Statute of Charitable Uses. Recent statutory reforms, such as the Charities Act 2006 (Eng&W), have compounded the underlying problems rather than resolving them. This paper aims to stimulate thinking about a new foundation for charity jurisprudence – while the approach may seem radical, the paper argues that these new foundations can be discerned underlying the current jurisprudence. The difficulties can be overcome by rediscovering the underlying jurisprudence which is disregarded in the current approach to categorisation. Giving voice, in contemporary language, to that foundational jurisprudence, this paper provides a way out of the current problems. It also provides an alternative way of conceptualising the doctrine of charitable purpose to guide reform.

Public, private, or hybrid? What the upstream oil and gas industry can learn from other sectors about ‘the cloud’

Despite the compelling case for moving towards cloud computing, the upstream oil & gas industry faces several technical challenges—most notably, a pronounced emphasis on data security, a reliance on extremely large data sets, and significant legacy investments in information technology (IT) infrastructure—that make a full migration to the public cloud difficult at present. Private and hybrid cloud solutions have consequently emerged within the industry to yield as much benefit from cloud-based technologies as possible while working within these constraints. This paper argues, however, that the move to private and hybrid clouds will very likely prove only to be a temporary stepping stone in the industry’s technological evolution. By presenting evidence from other market sectors that have faced similar challenges in their journey to the cloud, we propose that enabling technologies and conditions will probably fall into place in a way that makes the public cloud a far more attractive option for the upstream oil & gas industry in the years ahead. The paper concludes with a discussion about the implications of this projected shift towards the public cloud, and calls for more of the industry’s services to be offered through cloud-based “apps.”

Physical activity amongst people with chronic back pain : an investigation of perceived barriers and facilitators to inform intervention development

Previous research has indicated people with non-specific low back pain who are physically inactive face a poorer prognosis than people with back pain who participate in low or moderate intensity physical activity. They also face a greater risk of other lifestyle related health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. For these reasons, contemporary non-surgical interventions for low back pain aim to incorporate a return to physical activity. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting physical activity interventions for this purpose. It is likely that people with low back pain face additional challenges when trying to commence (or return to) regular physical activity. This exploratory qualitative research aimed to map out perceived barriers and facilitators to undertaking physical activity among people with non-specific low back pain to inform future intervention development.

Bouncing back : the role of design and making in understanding and dealing with adversity

The Bouncing Back Project, which began after the Queensland flood event in January 2011, has organically grown through a number of reiterations as per the diagram above. In the August 2011 it resulted in the physical construction of an Emergency Shelter [designed by GreenLeaf Engineers] in Sydney at the Customs House in Circular Quay and a conference paper publication at the AASA conference. To date this research has progressed without any research grant funding and has resulted in significant media interest. During the construction of the Emergency Shelter we collected a wide range of multimedia data which is being compilled into a documentary focusing on the architecture students’ experience throughout the iterations of Bouncing Back.

Bouncing Back : Recovery through Design + Making

Architectural education is beginning to recognise the potential of a more intensive relationship between the tasks of designing and building (Erdman et al., 2002) within a work integrated learning environment. The Bouncing Back Project, began after the Queensland, Australia floods in January 2011, and has organically grown through a number of architectural student exhibitions, initially displaying flood responsive designs. In September 2011, 10 Queensland University of Technology architecture students travelled to Sydney to work together in helping to construct a shelter in the Emergency Shelter Exhibition, at Customs House in Circular Quay. The construction and making of the shelter, was filmed. This film documents the student experience, of making, working with industry professionals, community engagement and it reveals how this activity promotes informal work integrated learning in a real world context.

Bouncing back : homegrown. Curated exhibition of student work and design workshop

Bouncing Back Architecture Exhibition: This exhibition showcases interpretations of urban resiliency by 2nd and 4th Year undergraduate architecture students who explore the notion of Bouncing Back from the 2011 Queensland floods, in the context of contemporary Brisbane built environment. Design solutions have been expressed in a variety of forms including emergency shelters, flood-proof housing and a range of urban designs, some of which address extreme environmental conditions. Design Process Workshop | Architecture Workshop with Queensland Academy of Creative Industries Students: In collaboration with Homegrown Facilitator Natalie Wright, Lindy Osborne and Glenda Caldwell and some of their architecture students from the QUT School of Design, extended the university design studio experience to 18 Secondary School students, who brainstormed and designed emergency food distribution shelters for those affected by floods. Designs and models created in the workshop were subsequently included in the Bouncing Back Architecture Exhibition.

Cloud computing in the upstream oil & gas industry : a proposed way forward

Despite the compelling case for moving towards cloud computing, the upstream oil & gas industry faces several technical challenges—most notably, a pronounced emphasis on data security, a reliance on extremely large data sets, and significant legacy investments in information technology infrastructure—that make a full migration to the public cloud difficult at present. Private and hybrid cloud solutions have consequently emerged within the industry to yield as much benefit from cloud-based technologies as possible while working within these constraints. This paper argues, however, that the move to private and hybrid clouds will very likely prove only to be a temporary stepping stone in the industry's technological evolution. By presenting evidence from other market sectors that have faced similar challenges in their journey to the cloud, we propose that enabling technologies and conditions will probably fall into place in a way that makes the public cloud a far more attractive option for the upstream oil & gas industry in the years ahead. The paper concludes with a discussion about the implications of this projected shift towards the public cloud, and calls for more of the industry's services to be offered through cloud-based “apps.”

Looking back and looking forward : exploring distributed leadership with Queensland Prep teachers

There is an increasing expectation that early childhood teachers will be pedagogical leaders, particularly in a global context of curriculum reform. This paper reports on the distributed leadership experiences of early childhood teachers’ during the 2003 Preparatory Year (Prep) trial in Queensland, Australia. In 2010, 13 of the first Prep teachers participated in interviews to discuss their definitions of leadership and reflect on the opportunities they had to lead curriculum development during and since the 2003 trial. Data were examined using a conceptual framework based on the work of Woods et al. (2004), with a focus on the structural and agential aspects of distributed leadership. Participants identified a range of contextual influences, challenges, skills and enabling strategies that illustrate the complexities in leading curriculum.

Back to the future : prohibiting surrogacy for singles, same-sex and shorter-term heterosexual couples in Queensland

This article considers the regulatory position concerning altruistic surrogacy in Queensland, focusing on the intended changes to the current legal framework announced by the government in June 2012. The previous government had made significant progress by reforming surrogacy laws in 2010. However, that progress is at risk of being reversed. The proposed changes to the law would make it a criminal offence to enter into an altruistic surrogacy arrangement for certain individuals or couples. If enacted, the offence would only apply in altruistic surrogacy cases where the intended parent or parents are either single, in a same-sex relationship, or are in a heterosexual relationship of less than two years. Moreover, if enacted, the offence would apply extra-territorially. The authors argue that these changes represent a retrograde step for the law and urge the government to reconsider. This is based on the fact that they are out of step with current social attitudes, are contrary to the spirit of anti-discrimination laws, and that they are unjustified in terms of child welfare concerns.

A randomized controlled pilot study comparing aqueous cream with a beeswax and herbal oil cream in the provision of relief from postburn pruritis

Postburn itch is reported to affect up to 87% of the burn population. Although treatments for postburn itch are multimodal, they remain consistently ineffective. However, recent anecdotal evidence from several outpatients at a tertiary referral hospital suggests that a cream combining beeswax and several herbal oils may be effective in the minimization of postburn itch. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of beeswax and herbal oil cream against the standard treatment of aqueous cream in the provision of relief from the symptoms of postburn itch. A randomized controlled trial compared two groups using a visual analog scale, frequency of cream application, itch recurrence after cream application, use of antipruritic medications, and sleep disturbance to determine the effect of itch severity and duration. Fifty-two participants were enrolled in the study (84% male) with a mean age of 35 years (SD = 16) and mean burn TBSA of 7.2% (SD = 7.7). Study results found that the beeswax and herbal oil cream reduce itch after application more frequently than aqueous cream (P = .001). In addition, when managed with beeswax and herbal oil cream, participants found that their itch recurred later (P ≤ .001) and their use of antipruritic medications was lower (P = .023). Findings of this study suggest beeswax and herbal oil cream to be more effective in the minimization of postburn itch than aqueous cream. Given this, a larger study examining the efficacy of beeswax and herbal oil cream appears warranted.

Optimisation of bio-oil extraction process from Beauty Leaf (Calophyllum inophyllum) oil seed as a second generation biodiesel source

The Beauty Leaf tree (Calophyllum inophyllum) is a potential source of non-edible vegetable oil for producing future generation biodiesel because of its ability to grow in a wide range of climate conditions, easy cultivation, high fruit production rate, and the high oil content in the seed. This plant naturally occurs in the coastal areas of Queensland and the Northern Territory in Australia, and is also widespread in south-east Asia, India and Sri Lanka. Although Beauty Leaf is traditionally used as a source of timber and orientation plant, its potential as a source of second generation biodiesel is yet to be exploited. In this study, the extraction process from the Beauty Leaf oil seed has been optimised in terms of seed preparation, moisture content and oil extraction methods. The two methods that have been considered to extract oil from the seed kernel are mechanical oil extraction using an electric powered screw press, and chemical oil extraction using n-hexane as an oil solvent. The study found that seed preparation has a significant impact on oil yields, especially in the screw press extraction method. Kernels prepared to 15% moisture content provided the highest oil yields for both extraction methods. Mechanical extraction using the screw press can produce oil from correctly prepared product at a low cost, however overall this method is ineffective with relatively low oil yields. Chemical extraction was found to be a very effective method for oil extraction for its consistence performance and high oil yield, but cost of production was relatively higher due to the high cost of solvent. However, a solvent recycle system can be implemented to reduce the production cost of Beauty Leaf biodiesel. The findings of this study are expected to serve as the basis from which industrial scale biodiesel production from Beauty Leaf can be made.