Showing papers by "Geelong Football Club published in 1999"

Protection against aerosol Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection using Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette Guérin-infected dendritic cells.

Abstract: In the lung, dendritic cells (DC) are key antigen-presenting cells capable of triggering specific cellular responses to inhaled pathogens, and thus, they may be important in the initiation of an early response to mycobacterial infections The ability of DC to enhance antigen presentation to naive T cells within the lungs was characterized with respect to Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccination against M tuberculosis infection In vitro derived DC were infected with BCG, which induced their maturation, as shown by the increased expression of MHC class II antigens, CD80 and CD86 co-stimulatory molecules The synthesis of mRNA for IL-1, IL-6, IL-12, IL-10 and IL-1 receptor antagonist was also enhanced When administered intratracheally in mice, infected DC induced a potent T cell response and the production of IFN-gamma to mycobacterial antigens in the mediastinal lymph nodes, leading to a significant protection against aerosol M tuberculosis infection Intriguingly, although the vaccination schedule for BCG-infected DC was much shorter than subcutaneous BCG vaccination (7 days as compared to 100 days), both types of vaccination showed similar levels of protection These data confirm that DC can be potent inducers of a cellular immune response against mycobacteria and support the concept of combining DC strategies with mycobacterial vaccines for protective immunity against tuberculosis

Vaccination and protection of pigs against pleuropneumonia with a vaccine strain of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae produced by site-specific mutagenesis of the ApxII operon.

Abstract: The production of toxin (Apx)-neutralizing antibodies during infection plays a major role in the induction of protective immunity to Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae reinfection. In the present study, the gene encoding the ApxII-activating protein, apxIIC, was insertionally inactivated on the chromosome of a serovar 7 strain, HS93. Expression of the structural toxin, ApxIIA, and of the two genes required for its secretion, apxIB and apxID, still occurs in this strain. The resulting mutant strain, HS93C- Ampr, was found to secrete the unactivated toxin. Pigs vaccinated with live HS93C- Ampr via the intranasal route were protected against a cross-serovar challenge with a virulent serovar 1 strain of A. pleuropneumoniae. This is the first reported vaccine strain of A. pleuropneumoniae which can be delivered live to pigs and offers cross-serovar protection against porcine pleuropneumonia.

Water in Wool

Abstract: The polymer absorption model developed by Vrentas and Vrentas is applied to the wool/water isotherm. In principle, all parameters in this model can be determined independently of sorption behavior so that a genuine prediction can be made. This model emphasizes the role of the glass transition in generating the sigmoidal shape of the absorption isotherm. By applying an extended version of the model and thermo dynamic data obtained from the literature to the wool/water isotherm, a reasonable fit to experimental data is achieved. Sorption behavior at higher temperatures is also rea sonably well predicted. The influence of the glass transition in restricting the rate of water crystallization during cooling is used to reinterpret the results of a previous study using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). This study concluded that three different states of water may exist in wool, cotton, and silk, i.e., free water, freezing bound water, and nonfreezing bound water. However, an alternative and more plausible...

Histopathology and immunohistochemistry of bats infected by Australian bat lyssavirus

Abstract: Objective To describe the lesions and distribution of viral antigens in bats infected by Australian bat lyssavirus. Design A retrospective histopathological and immunohistochemical study of bats naturally infected with the virus. Procedure Tissues from 37 infected bats were examined. Nineteen flying foxes (fruit bats) and two insectivorous bats were examined in detail. Brains of another 16 flying foxes were poorly fixed and were examined less fully. Result Lesions varied considerably between individuals and, where present, were mostly those of nonsuppurative meningoencephalomyelitis and ganglioneuritis similar to lesions seen in rabies and rabies-like diseases. The number of cells with intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies (Negri bodies) was variable; none were seen in some bats. Intracytoplasmic vacuolation of neurons was a common finding. Lesions occurred throughout the central nervous system but were most frequent and severe in the hippocampus, thalamus and midbrain, and medulla oblongata and pons. Indirect immunoperoxidase tests for lyssavirus antigen reactions varied in intensity and distribution, but also occurred mostly in the hippocampus, thalamus and midbrain, and medulla oblongata and pons. In peripheral tissues, reactions were seen in autonomic ganglia, in nerve plexuses of the gastrointestinal tract, in nervous tissues within muscles and immediately adjacent to individual muscle fibres, in an adrenal medulla, and in epithelial tissues in one of eight salivary glands examined. Conclusion The main lesion in Australian bat lyssavirus infection is nonsuppurative inflammation similar to that seen in rabies and other rabies-like diseases, except that the number of Negri bodies is more variable. Reactions to immunoperoxidase tests for lyssavirus vary in intensity and distribution and may occur in both central and peripheral nervous systems. These reactions do not always occur in the salivary glands, even if brain infection is present.

Effect of preroll quenching and post-roll quenching on production and properties of ultrafine ferrite in steel

Abstract: The production of ultrafine (1–2 μm) ferrite grains by single pass rolling of steel has led to the development of two modified rolling processes. The preroll quenching technique aims to produce a homogeneous distribution of ultrafine ferrite grains through the strip thickness, while at the same time relaxing some of the processing constraints associated with the production of these types of microstructure. By quenching the strip directly before rolling, the technique successfully produced a uniform distribution of ultrafine grains in a low carbon microalloyed grade. The post-roll quenching technique involved quenching the strip directly after rolling to control the microstructure of the centre of the strip and produce layered composite structures in both plain and microalloyed low carbon grades. These microstructures displayed novel combinations of very high strength and good ductility. These techniques present further opportunities for microstructural manipulation and the production of strip stee...

Postmarketing surveillance: strengths and limitations. The flucloxacillin-dicloxacillin story.

Abstract: Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions continues to be the principal method used for monitoring the safety of marketed drugs. Despite the many successes attributed to these schemes, they can reliably detect only a small fraction of the range of possible drug-related events and provide virtually no useful quantitative data. Some of the limitations of spontaneous reporting were demonstrated recently in relation to flucloxacillin. Reports in Australia suggested the likelihood of an unacceptable risk of flucloxacillin-associated jaundice, but the data from spontaneous reporting in countries with apparently similar use of the drug, such as New Zealand and the UK, were insufficient to confirm or refute this proposition. Spontaneous monitoring should be supplemented by the systematic monitoring of cohorts of users of new drugs, using record-linkage to track their subsequent health. Although several impediments exist to the introduction of such a scheme in Australia, consideration should be given to addressing how such a system might be implemented.

Mutagensis and cell transformation in cell culture.

Abstract: The current lack of continuous prawn cell lines suitable for the isolation and growth of prawn viruses is a major setback for diagnosis of viral diseases of prawns; isolation and identification of the causative agents are severely hindered and the development of other diagnostic procedures is slowed. To date, there are few, if any, examples of continuous prawn cell lines suitable for virus isolation and growth. Recent studies indicate that clastogenic agents such as ionising radiation are more effective than powerful point mutagens as immortalising agents for mammalian cells. Such studies with mammalian cell cultures indicate that certain mutagenic agents and/or prolonged treatment with a combination of mutagens may prove more useful in the production of immortal prawn cell lines in vitro rather than other, more limited and specific procedures. This report provides a brief review of the use of mutagens to induce immortalisation -- the acquisition of unlimited growth potential -- in mammalian cells in culture, i.e. the production of continuous cell lines from primary cultures. Aspects of cell transformation vs. immortalisation, the control of cell growth in vitro, and the application of mutagenic agents to induce immortalisation in primary cultures of prawn tissues will be discussed.

Postmarketing surveillance: strengths and limitations

Abstract: Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions continues to be the principal method used for monitoring the safety of marketed drugs. Despite the many successes attributed to these schemes, they can reliably detect only a small fraction of the range of possible drug‐related events and provide virtually no useful quantitative data.

Screening for resistance to Diaporthe toxica in lupins by estimation of phomopsins and glucoseamine in individual plants

Abstract: Immunological and biochemical assays were developed for screening for resistance to Diaporthe toxica in individual plants of narrow-leafed lupins (Lupinus angustifolius). The former was an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for measuring phomopsin mycotoxins and the latter gave an estimation of glucoseamine in infected stem pieces. Stems of L. angustifolius seedlings were inoculated with conidia from D. toxica cultures and, as expected with this latent disease, remained symptomless for 21 days after inoculation. At this time, phomopsins were measured in excised stems that had been incubated for 6 or 8 days to allow mycelial growth from latent infection structures, thereby increasing the phomopsins to detectable levels in individual plants. The estimation of glucoseamine was carried out on the same stems that had been assayed for phomopsins. The method was based on the alkaline deacetylation of chitin to chitosan, the glucoseamine residues of which are de-aminated with nitrous acid, yielding an aldehyde which is determined colorimetrically. At six days after excision, both tests clearly distinguished the very resistant, resistant, intermediate and susceptible lines and they may be useful in large-scale resistance screening in lupin breeding programmes. The ELISA of phomopsins is easier to use and would be particularly useful in the elimination of susceptible plants and those plants expressing intermediate levels of resistance during early generations of the breeding programme.

Room temperature deformation and recrystallisation behaviour of lead and lead–tin alloys in torsion and plane strain compression

Abstract: The constitutive and static recrystallisation behaviour of commercially pure Pb and Pb alloys containing 0·1 and 0·2 wt-%Sn has been investigated under conditions of torsion and plane strain compression. It was found that the materials investigated could be used to model the behaviour of hot steels that undergo dynamic restoration processes or static processes in interrupted deformation.

Negotiating Studies of Asia in Years One and Two: Collaboration in the Production and use of Knowledge:

Abstract: Over the past three years teachers at Mercia Primary School (Geelong) have engaged in a research project aiming to extend teachers’ and students’ understandings of Indonesia; limitations in curricu...