Social implications of radical technology adoption within the livestock industry - a design investigation: Innovating disruptive technologies in traditional marketplaces

This thesis presents a design investigation into how traditional technology-orientated markets can use design led innovation (DLI) strategies in order to achieve better market penetration of disruptive products. In a review of the Australian livestock industry, considering historical information and present-day trends, a lack of socio-cultural consideration was identified in the design and implementation of products and systems, previously been taken to market. Hence the adoption of these novel products has been documented as extremely slow. Classical diffusion models have typically been used in order to implement these products. However, this thesis poses that it is through the strategic intent of design led innovation, where heavily technology-orientated markets (such as the Australian livestock industry), can achieve better final adoption rates. By considering a range of external factors (business models, technology and user needs), rather than focusing design efforts solely on the technology, it is argued that using DLI approach will lead to disruptive innovations being made easier to adopt in the Australian livestock industry. This thesis therefore explored two research questions: 1. What are the social inhibitors to the adoption of a new technology in the Australian livestock industry? 2. Can design be used to gain a significant feedback response to the proposed innovation? In order to answer these questions, this thesis used a design led innovation approach to investigate the livestock industry, centring on how design can be used early on in the development of disruptive products being taken to market. This thesis used a three stage data collection programme, combining methods of design thinking, co-design and participatory design. The first study found four key themes to the social barriers of technology adoption; Social attitudes to innovation, Market monitoring, Attitude to 3D imaging and Online processes. These themes were built upon through a design thinking/co-design approach to create three ‘future scenarios’ to be tested in participant workshops. The analysis of the data collection found four key socio-cultural barriers that inhibited the adoption of a disruptive innovation in the Australian livestock industry. These were found to be a lack of Education, a Culture of Innovation, a Lack of Engagement and Communication barriers. This thesis recommends five key areas to be focused upon in the subsequent design of a new product in the Australian livestock industry. These recommendations are made to business and design managers looking to introduce disruptive innovations in this industry. Moreover, the thesis presents three design implications relating to stakeholder attitudes, practical constraints and technological restrictions of innovations within the industry.

Use of a zeolite synthesised from alkali treated kaolin as a K fertiliser : glasshouse experiments on leaching and uptake of K by wheat plants in sandy soil

Zeolite N, a zeolite referred to in earlier publications as MesoLite, is made by caustic reaction of kaolin at temperatures between 80 °C and 95 °C. This material has a very high cation exchange capacity (CEC ≈ 500 meq/100 g). Soil column leaching experiments have shown that K-zeolite N additions greatly reduce leaching of NH4+ fertilisers but the agronomic effectiveness of the retained K+ and NH4+ is unknown. To measure the bioavailability of K in this zeolite, wheat was grown in a glasshouse with K-zeolite N as the K fertiliser in highly-leached and non-leached pots for four weeks and compared with a soluble K fertiliser (KCl). The plants grown in non-leached pots and fertilised with K-zeolite N were slightly larger than those grown with KCl. The elemental compositions in the plants were similar except for Si being significantly more concentrated in the plants supplied with K-zeolite N. Thus K-zeolite N may be an effective K-fertiliser. Plants grown in highly-leached pots were significantly smaller than those grown in non-leached pots. Plants grown in highly-leached pots were severely K deficient as half of the K from both KCl and K-zeolite N was leached from the pots within three days.

Phenological changes in six Australian subalpine plants in response to experimental warming and year-to-year variation

The likely phenological responses of plants to climate warming can be measured through experimental manipulation of field sites, but results are rarely validated against year-to-year changes in climate. Here, we describe the response of 1-5 years of experimental warming on phenology (budding, flowering and seed maturation) of six common subalpine plant species in the Australian Alps using the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) protocol.2. Phenological changes in some species (particularly the forb Craspedia jamesii) were detected in experimental plots within a year of warming, whereas changes in most other species (the forb Erigeron bellidioides, the shrub Asterolasia trymalioides and the graminoids Carex breviculmis and Poa hiemata) did not develop until after 2-4 years; thus, there appears to be a cumulative effect of warming for some species across multiple years.3. There was evidence of changes in the length of the period between flowering and seed maturity in one species (P. hiemata) that led to a similar timing of seed maturation, suggesting compensation.4. Year-to-year variation in phenology was greater than variation between warmed and control plots and could be related to differences in thawing degree days (particularly, for E. bellidioides) due to earlier timing of budding and other events under warmer conditions. However, in Carex breviculmis, there was no association between phenology and temperature changes across years.5. These findings indicate that, although phenological changes occurred earlier in response to warming in all six species, some species showed buffered rather than immediate responses.6. Synthesis. Warming in ITEX open-top chambers in the Australian Alps produced earlier budding, flowering and seed set in several alpine species. Species also altered the timing of these events, particularly budding, in response to year-to-year temperature variation. Some species responded immediately, whereas in others the cumulative effects of warming across several years were required before a response was detected.

In vitro breeding strategies in the development of Australian native plants

Plant tissue culture is a technique that exploits the ability of many plant cells to revert to a meristematic state. Although originally developed for botanical research, plant tissue culture has now evolved into important commercial practices and has become a significant research tool in agriculture, horticulture and in many other areas of plant sciences. Plant tissue culture is the sterile culture of plant cells, tissues, or organs under aseptic conditions leading to cell multiplication or regeneration or organs and whole plants. The steps required to develop reliable systems for plant regeneration and their application in plant biotechnology are reviewed in countless books. Some of the major landmarks in the evolution of in vitro techniques are summarised in Table 5.1. In this chapter the current applications of this technology to agriculture, horticulture, forestry and plant breeding are briefly described with specific examples from Australian plants when applicable.

Challenges to environmental toxicology and epidemiology : where do we stand and which way do we go?

Modern toxicology investigates a wide array of both old and new health hazards. Priority setting is needed to select agents for research from the plethora of exposure circumstances. The changing societies and a growing fraction of the aged have to be taken into consideration. A precise exposure assessment is of importance for risk estimation and regulation. Toxicology contributes to the exploration of pathomechanisms to specify the exposure metrics for risk estimation. Combined effects of co-existing agents are not yet sufficiently understood. Animal experiments allow a separate administration of agents which can not be disentangled by epidemiological means, but their value is limited for low exposure levels in many of today’s settings. As an experimental science, toxicology has to keep pace with the rapidly growing knowledge about the language of the genome and the changing paradigms in cancer development. During the pioneer era of assembling a working draft of the human genome, toxicogenomics has been developed. Gene and pathway complexity have to be considered when investigating gene–environment interactions. For a best conduct of studies, modern toxicology needs a close liaison with many other disciplines like epidemiology and bioinformatics.

EPG monitoring of the probing behaviour of the common brown leafhopper Orosius orientalis on artificial diet and selected host plants

The common brown leafhopper Orosius orientalis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) is a polyphagous vector of a range of economically important pathogens, including phytoplasmas and viruses, which infect a diverse range of crops. Studies on the plant penetration behaviour by O. orientalis were conducted using the electrical penetration graph (EPG) technique to assist in the characterisation of pathogen acquisition and transmission. EPG waveforms representing different probing activities were acquired from adult O. orientalis probing in planta, using two host species, tobacco Nicotiana tabacum and bean Phaseolus vulgaris, and in vitro using a simple sucrose-based artificial diet. Five waveforms (O1–O5) were evident when O. orientalis fed on bean, whereas only four waveforms (O1–O4) and three waveforms (O1–O3) were observed when the leafhopper fed on tobacco and on the artificial diet, respectively. Both the mean duration of each waveform and waveform type differed markedly depending on the food substrate. Waveform O4 was not observed on the artificial diet and occurred relatively rarely on tobacco plants when compared with bean plants. Waveform O5 was only observed with leafhoppers probing on beans. The attributes of the waveforms and comparative analyses with previously published Hemipteran data are presented and discussed, but further characterisation studies will be needed to confirm our suggestions.

Impacts of invasive plants on Australian rangelands

In Australia, the spread and dominance of non-native plant species has been identified as a serious threat to rangeland biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Rangelands extend over 70% of Australia’s land mass or more than 6 million km2. These rangelands consist of a diverse set of ecosystems including grasslands, shrub-lands, and woodlands spanning numerous climatic zones, ranging from arid to mesic. Because of the high economic, social, and environmental values, sustainable management of these vast landscapes is critical for Australia’s future. More than 2 million people live in these areas and major industries are ranching, mining, and tourism. In terms of biodiversity values, 53 of 85 of Australia’s biogeographical regions and 5 of 15 identified biodiversity hotspots are found in rangelands.

Optimization of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) L1 expression in plants: Comparison of the suitability of different HPV-16 L1 gene variants and different cell-compartment localization

Virus-like particle-based vaccines for high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) appear to have great promise; however, cell culture-derived vaccines will probably be very expensive. The optimization of expression of different codon-optimized versions of the HPV-16 L1 capsid protein gene in plants has been explored by means of transient expression from a novel suite of Agrobacterium tumefaciens binary expression vectors, which allow targeting of recombinant protein to the cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or chloroplasts. A gene resynthesized to reflect human codon usage expresses better than the native gene, which expresses better than a plant-optimized gene. Moreover, chloroplast localization allows significantly higher levels of accumulation of L1 protein than does cytoplasmic localization, whilst ER retention was least successful. High levels of L1 (>17% total soluble protein) could be produced via transient expression: the protein assembled into higher-order structures visible by electron microscopy, and a concentrated extract was highly immunogenic in mice after subcutaneous injection and elicited high-titre neutralizing antibodies. Transgenic tobacco plants expressing a human codon-optimized gene linked to a chloroplast-targeting signal expressed L1 at levels up to 11% of the total soluble protein. These are the highest levels of HPV L1 expression reported for plants: these results, and the excellent immunogenicity of the product, significantly improve the prospects of making a conventional HPV vaccine by this means. © 2007 SGM.

Expression of HIV-1 antigens in plants as potential subunit vaccines

Background Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has infected more than 40 million people worldwide, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. The high prevalence of HIV-1 subtype C in southern Africa necessitates the development of cheap, effective vaccines. One means of production is the use of plants, for which a number of different techniques have been successfully developed. HIV-1 Pr55Gag is a promising HIV-1 vaccine candidate: we compared the expression of this and a truncated Gag (p17/p24) and the p24 capsid subunit in Nicotiana spp. using transgenic plants and transient expression via Agrobacterium tumefaciens and recombinant tobamovirus vectors. We also investigated the influence of subcellular localisation of recombinant protein to the chloroplast and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) on protein yield. We partially purified a selected vaccine candidate and tested its stimulation of a humoral and cellular immune response in mice. Results Both transient and transgenic expression of the HIV antigens were successful, although expression of Pr55Gag was low in all systems; however, the Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression of p24 and p17/p24 yielded best, to more than 1 mg p24/kg fresh weight. Chloroplast targeted protein levels were highest in transient and transgenic expression of p24 and p17/p24. The transiently-expressed p17/p24 was not immunogenic in mice as a homologous vaccine, but it significantly boosted a humoral and T cell immune response primed by a gag DNA vaccine, pTHGagC. Conclusion Transient agroinfiltration was best for expression of all of the recombinant proteins tested, and p24 and p17/p24 were expressed at much higher levels than Pr55Gag. Our results highlight the usefulness of plastid signal peptides in enhancing the production of recombinant proteins meant for use as vaccines. The p17/p24 protein effectively boosted T cell and humoral responses in mice primed by the DNA vaccine pTHGagC, showing that this plant-produced protein has potential for use as a vaccine.

High level protein expression in plants through the use of a novel autonomously replicating geminivirus shuttle vector

We constructed a novel autonomously replicating gene expression shuttle vector, with the aim of developing a system for transiently expressing proteins at levels useful for commercial production of vaccines and other proteins in plants. The vector, pRIC, is based on the mild strain of the geminivirus Bean yellow dwarf virus (BeYDV-m) and is replicationally released into plant cells from a recombinant Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmid. pRIC differs from most other geminivirus-based vectors in that the BeYDV replication-associated elements were included in cis rather than from a co-transfected plasmid, while the BeYDV capsid protein (CP) and movement protein (MP) genes were replaced by an antigen encoding transgene expression cassette derived from the non-replicating A. tumefaciens vector, pTRAc. We tested vector efficacy in Nicotiana benthamiana by comparing transient cytoplasmic expression between pRIC and pTRAc constructs encoding either enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) or the subunit vaccine antigens, human papillomavirus subtype 16 (HPV-16) major CP L1 and human immunodeficiency virus subtype C p24 antigen. The pRIC constructs were amplified in planta by up to two orders of magnitude by replication, while 50% more HPV-16 L1 and three- to seven-fold more EGFP and HIV-1 p24 were expressed from pRIC than from pTRAc. Vector replication was shown to be correlated with increased protein expression. We anticipate that this new high-yielding plant expression vector will contribute towards the development of a viable plant production platform for vaccine candidates and other pharmaceuticals. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Human papillomavirus vaccines in plants

Human papillomaviruses are the etiological agents of cervical cancer, one of the two most prevalent cancers in women in developing countries. Currently available prophylactic vaccines are based on the L1 major capsid protein, which forms virus-like particles when expressed in yeast and insect cell lines. Despite their recognized efficacy, there are significant shortcomings: the vaccines are expensive, include only two oncogenic virus types, are delivered via intramuscular injection and require a cold chain. Plant expression systems may provide ways of overcoming some of these problems, in particular the expense. In this article, we report recent promising advances in the production of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines against human papillomavirus by expression of the relevant antigens in plants, and discuss future prospects for the use of such vaccines. © 2010 Expert Reviews Ltd.