The role of the health surveillance program in the Queensland coal mining industry

The Queensland Coal Industry Employees Health Scheme was implemented in 1993 to provide health surveillance for all Queensland coal industry workers. Tt1e government, mining employers and mining unions agreed that the scheme should operate for seven years. At the expiry of the scheme, an assessment of the contribution of health surveillance to meet coal industry needs would be an essential part of determining a future health surveillance program. This research project has analysed the data made available between 1993 and 1998. All current coal industry employees have had at least one health assessment. The project examined how the centralised nature of the Health Scheme benefits industry by identi~)jng key health issues and exploring their dimensions on a scale not possible by corporate based health surveillance programs. There is a body of evidence that indicates that health awareness - on the scale of the individual, the work group and the industry is not a part of the mining industry culture. There is also growing evidence that there is a need for this culture to change and that some change is in progress. One element of this changing culture is a growth in the interest by the individual and the community in information on health status and benchmarks that are reasonably attainable. This interest opens the way for health education which contains personal, community and occupational elements. An important element of such education is the data on mine site health status. This project examined the role of health surveillance in the coal mining industry as a tool for generating the necessary information to promote an interest in health awareness. The Health Scheme Database provides the material for the bulk of the analysis of this project. After a preliminary scan of the data set, more detailed analysis was undertaken on key health and related safety issues that include respiratory disorders, hearing loss and high blood pressure. The data set facilitates control for confounding factors such as age and smoking status. Mines can be benchmarked to identify those mines with effective health management and those with particular challenges. While the study has confirmed the very low prevalence of restrictive airway disease such as pneu"moconiosis, it has demonstrated a need to examine in detail the emergence of obstructive airway disease such as bronchitis and emphysema which may be a consequence of the increasing use of high dust longwall technology. The power of the Health Database's electronic data management is demonstrated by linking the health data to other data sets such as injury data that is collected by the Department of l\1mes and Energy. The analysis examines serious strain -sprain injuries and has identified a marked difference between the underground and open cut sectors of the industry. The analysis also considers productivity and OHS data to examine the extent to which there is correlation between any pairs ofJpese and previously analysed health parameters. This project has demonstrated that the current structure of the Coal Industry Employees Health Scheme has largely delivered to mines and effective health screening process. At the same time, the centralised nature of data collection and analysis has provided to the mines, the unions and the government substantial statistical cross-sectional data upon which strategies to more effectively manage health and relates safety issues can be based.

The transformation of banana with potential virus resistance genes

One approach to reducing the yield losses caused by banana viral diseases is the use of genetic engineering and pathogen-derived resistance strategies to generate resistant cultivars. The development of transgenic virus resistance requires an efficient banana transformation method, particularly for commercially important 'Cavendish' type cultivars such as 'Grand Nain'. Prior to this study, only two examples of the stable transformation of banana had been reported, both of which demonstrated the principle of transformation but did not characterise transgenic plants in terms of the efficiency at which individual transgenic lines were generated, relative activities of promoters in stably transformed plants, and the stability of transgene expression. The aim of this study was to develop more efficient transformation methods for banana, assess the activity of some commonly used and also novel promoters in stably transformed plants, and transform banana with genes that could potentially confer resistance to banana bunchy top nanovirus (BBTV) and banana bract mosaic potyvirus (BBrMV). A regeneration system using immature male flowers as the explant was established. The frequency of somatic embryogenesis in male flower explants was influenced by the season in which the inflorescences were harvested. Further, the media requirements of various banana cultivars in respect to the 2,4-D concentration in the initiation media also differed. Following the optimisation of these and other parameters, embryogenic cell suspensions of several banana (Musa spp.) cultivars including 'Grand Nain' (AAA), 'Williams' (AAA), 'SH-3362' (AA), 'Goldfinger' (AAAB) and 'Bluggoe' (ABB) were successfully generated. Highly efficient transformation methods were developed for both 'Bluggoe' and 'Grand Nain'; this is the first report of microprojectile bombardment transformation of the commercially important 'Grand Nain' cultivar. Following bombardment of embryogenic suspension cells, regeneration was monitored from single transfom1ed cells to whole plants using a reporter gene encoding the green fluorescent protein (gfp). Selection with kanamycin enabled the regeneration of a greater number of plants than with geneticin, while still preventing the regeneration of non-transformed plants. Southern hybridisation confirmed the neomycin phosphotransferase gene (npt II) was stably integrated into the banana genome and that multiple transgenic lines were derived from single bombardments. The activity, stability and tissue specificity of the cauliflower mosaic virus 358 (CaMV 35S) and maize polyubiquitin-1 (Ubi-1) promoters were examined. In stably transformed banana, the Ubi-1 promoter provided approximately six-fold higher p-glucuronidase (GUS) activity than the CaMV 35S promoter, and both promoters remained active in glasshouse grown plants for the six months they were observed. The intergenic regions ofBBTV DNA-I to -6 were isolated and fused to either the uidA (GUS) or gfjJ reporter genes to assess their promoter activities. BBTV promoter activity was detected in banana embryogenic cells using the gfp reporter gene. Promoters derived from BBTV DNA-4 and -5 generated the highest levels of transient activity, which were greater than that generated by the maize Ubi-1 promoter. In transgenic banana plants, the activity of the BBTV DNA-6 promoter (BT6.1) was restricted to the phloem of leaves and roots, stomata and root meristems. The activity of the BT6.1 promoter was enhanced by the inclusion of intron-containing fragments derived from the maize Ubi-1, rice Act-1, and sugarcane rbcS 5' untranslated regions in GUS reporter gene constructs. In transient assays in banana, the rice Act-1 and maize Ubi-1 introns provided the most significant enhancement, increasing expression levels 300-fold and 100-fold, respectively. The sugarcane rbcS intron increased expression about 10-fold. In stably transformed banana plants, the maize Ubi-1 intron enhanced BT6.1 promoter activity to levels similar to that of the CaMV 35S promoter, but did not appear to alter the tissue specificity of the promoter. Both 'Grand Nain' and 'Bluggoe' were transformed with constructs that could potentially confer resistance to BBTV and BBrMV, including constructs containing BBTV DNA-1 major and internal genes, BBTV DNA-5 gene, and the BBrMV coat protein-coding region all under the control of the Ubi-1 promoter, while the BT6 promoter was used to drive the npt II selectable marker gene. At least 30 transgenic lines containing each construct were identified and replicates of each line are currently being generated by micropropagation in preparation for virus challenge.

Gene transfer to plants by diverse species of bacteria

Agrobacterium is widely considered to be the only bacterial genus capable of transferring genes to plants. When suitably modified, Agrobacterium has become the most effective vector for gene transfer in plant biotechnology1. However, the complexity of the patent landscape2 has created both real and perceived obstacles to the effective use of this technology for agricultural improvements by many public and private organizations worldwide. Here we show that several species of bacteria outside the Agrobacterium genus can be modified to mediate gene transfer to a number of diverse plants. These plant-associated symbiotic bacteria were made competent for gene transfer by acquisition of both a disarmed Ti plasmid and a suitable binary vector. This alternative to Agrobacterium-mediated technology for crop improvement, in addition to affording a versatile ‘open source’ platform for plant biotechnology, may lead to new uses of natural bacteria– plant interactions to achieve plant transformation.

A spectroscopic comparison of selected Chinese kaolinite, coal bearing kaolinite and halloysite : a mid-infrared and near-infrared study

Mid-infrared (MIR) and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy have been compared and evaluated for differentiating kaolinite, coal bearing kaolinite and halloysite. Kaolinite, coal bearing kaolinite and halloysite are the three relative abundant mineral of the kaolin group, especially in China. In the MIR spectra, the differences are shown in the 3000-3600 cm-1 between kaolinite and halloysite. It can not be obviously differentiated the kaolinite and halloysite, let alone kaolinite and coal bearing kaolinite. However, NIR, together with MIR, give us the sufficient evidence to differentiate the kaolinite and halloysite, especially kaolinite and coal bearing kaolinite. There are obvious differences between kaolinite and halloysite in the all range of their spectra, and it also show some difference between kaolinite and coal bearing kaolinite. Therefore, the reproducibility of measurement, signal to noise ratio and richness of qualitative information should be simultaneously considered for proper selection of a spectroscopic method for mineral analysis.

Coal Seam Gas Water from Maramarua, New Zealand: Characterisation and Comparison to United States Analogues

Groundwater from Maramarua has been identified as coal seam gas (CSG) water by studying its composition, and comparing it against the geochemical signature from other CSG basins. CSG is natural gas that has been produced through thermogenic and biogenic processes in underground coal seams; CSG extraction requires the abstraction of significant amounts of CSG water. To date, no international literature has described coal seam gas water in New Zealand, however recent CSG exploration work has resulted in CSG water quality data from a coal seam in Maramarua, New Zealand. Water quality from this site closely follows the geochemical signature associated with United States CSG waters, and this has helped to characterise the type of water being abstracted. CSG water from this part of Maramarua has low calcium, magnesium, and sulphate concentrations but high sodium (334 mg/l), chloride (146 mg/l) and bicarbonate (435 mg/l) concentrations. In addition, this water has high pH (7.8) and alkalinity (360 mg/l as CaCO3), which is a direct consequence of carbonate dissolution and biogenic processes. Different analyte ratios ('source-rock deduction' method) have helped to identify the different formation processes responsible in shaping Maramarua CSG water

Sodium removal from Maramarua CSG waters using Ngakuru zeolites

Coal seam gas (CSG) waters are a by-product of natural gas extraction from un derground coal seams. The main issue with these waters is their elevated sodium content, which in conjunction with their low calcium and magnesium concentrations can generate soil infiltration problems in the long run , as well as short term toxicity effects in plants due to the sodium ion itself. Zeolites are minerals having a porous structure, crystalline characteristics, and an alumino-silicate configuration resulting in an overall negative charge which is balanced by loosely held cations. In New Zealand, Ngakuru zeolites have been mined for commercial use in wastewater treatment applications, cosmetics, and pet litter. This research focuses on assessing the capacity of Ngakuru zeolites to reduce sodium concentrations of CSG waters from Maramarua. Batch and column test (flow through) experiments revealed that Ngakuru zeolites are capable of sorbing sodium cations from concentrated solutions of sodium. In b atch tests, the sodium adsorption capacity ranged from 5.0 to 34.3meq/100g depending on the solution concentration and on the number of times the zeolite had been regenerated. Regeneration with CaCl2 was foun d to be effective. The calculated sodium adsorption capacity of Ngakuru zeolites under flow-through conditions ranged from 11 to 42meq/100g depending on the strength of the solution being treated and on w hether the zeolites had been previously regenerated. The slow kinetics and low cost of the zeolities, coupled with potentially remote sites for gas extraction, could make semi-batch operational processes without regeneration more favourable than in more industrial ion exchange situations.

Characterisation of Coal Seam Gas Waters in New Zealand

Coal seam gas (CSG) exploration and development requires the abstraction of significant amounts of water. This is so because gas desorbtion in coal seams takes place only after aquifer pressure has been reduced by prolonged pumping of aquifer water. CSG waters have a specific geochemical signature which is a product of their formation process. These waters have high bicarbonate, high sodium, low calcium, low magnesium, and very low sulphate concentrations. Additionally, chloride concentrations may be high depending on the coal depositional environment. This particular signature is not only useful for exploration purposes, but it also highlights potential environmental issues that can arise as a consequence of CSG water disposal. Since 2002 L&M Coal Seam Gas Ltd and CRL Energy Ltd, have been involved in exploration and development of CSG in New Zealand. Anticipating disposal of CSG waters as a key issue in CSG development, they have been assessing CSG water quality along with exploration work. Coal seam gas water samples from an exploration well in Maramarua closely follow the geochemical signature associated with CSG waters. This has helped to identify CSG potential, while at the same time assessing the chemical characteristics and water generation processes in the aquifer. Neutral pH and high alkalinity suggest that these waters could be easily managed once the sodium and chloride concentrations are reduced to acceptable levels.

A research opportunity : “3D-ROSE” : virtual reality preparation for children having radiotherapy or imaging procedures

Professor Christian Langton is a medical physicist at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. He has developed a way of preparing children who are about to have either radiotherapy or MRI imaging procedures and is seeking research partners to develop and test these further. This is a great opportunity for nurses interested in research, and who have access to a children’s hospital, to work with Professor Langton on some truly innovative, multidisciplinary research.