Group B Streptococcus GAPDH Is Released upon Cell Lysis, Associates with Bacterial Surface, and Induces Apoptosis in Murine Macrophages

Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenases (GAPDH) are cytoplasmic glycolytic enzymes that, despite lacking identifiable secretion signals, have been detected at the surface of several prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms where they exhibit non-glycolytic functions including adhesion to host components. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a human commensal bacterium that has the capacity to cause life-threatening meningitis and septicemia in newborns. Electron microscopy and fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis demonstrated the surface localization of GAPDH in GBS. By addressing the question of GAPDH export to the cell surface of GBS strain NEM316 and isogenic mutant derivatives of our collection, we found that impaired GAPDH presence in the surface and supernatant of GBS was associated with a lower level of bacterial lysis. We also found that following GBS lysis, GAPDH can associate to the surface of many living bacteria. Finally, we provide evidence for a novel function of the secreted GAPDH as an inducer of apoptosis of murine macrophages

Keeping students safe : photographs and privacy laws in Australia

What are the legal rights and protections available to students? In the first of a two-part series, the author explains the law in relation to unauthorised photographs. In 2005, Philip Ruddock, then Commonwealth Attorney-General, was considering new laws to prohibit voyeuristic photography of children. It is worth considering exactly how the current laws relate to unauthorised photography, as well as considering the proposed law reform and the approaches of other common law countries. The Attorneys-General note, in a discussion paper on the issue, that it would be inappropriate to amend Australian copyright laws since these protect the intellectual property in a creative endeavour and can only provide remedies for acts connected to infringements of intellectual property rights. As an alternative, the Attorneys-General suggest that, for example, a Commissioner for Children be given the role of protecting children\u27s reasonable interests with regard to unauthorised photographs. In this article, the author first examines the legal aspects of the right to privacy and the right not to be photographed, then questions whether there is currently protection under the Privacy Act in relation to unauthorised photographs, and concludes there is not, nor is there under common law. He then outlines protection currently available under criminal law in Victoria and New South Wales, with reference also to the criminal codes in New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom, before discussing the proposals put forward by the Attorneys-General. [Author abstract, ed

Keeping students safe : personal information and privacy laws in Australia

What are the legal rights and protections available to students? In the second of a two-part series, the author looks at privacy issues and the law in relation to the withholding of a student\u27s personal information from parents or students. In the March 2008 issue of \u27Teacher\u27 the author looked at privacy and the current legal rights and protections available to students in the event that inappropriate photographs are taken of them, particularly in relation to the right to privacy. In this issue the author looks at the collection, storage, use and disclosure of their personal information in relation to privacy. The Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 does not distinguish between adults and children. As a result, children have some rights when it comes to the collection, storage, use and disclosure of their personal information. Schools often collect personal information about students from a student\u27s parents. Schools also collect personal information about students from students themselves. What should schools do if parents demand that a school provide them with access to personal information about their child, but the student objects? Similarly, if a student requests access to personal information that the school holds about him or her, how should the school respond? The author discusses the Privacy Act basics; whether a student can withhold consent; complying with a school privacy policy and collection notice; a school\u27s contractual relationship with parents; other reasons to deny access; withholding a student\u27s personal information from teachers; how private schools should use and disclose information; and, a procedure for deciding to who to distribute information. [Author abstract, ed

Tailored synthesis of complexes and polymers containing organoiron and organocobalt

This thesis describes synthetic strategies for the incorporation of organoiron and organocobalt into polymers. Norbornene and methacrylate based polymers which contained μ-alkyne-bis(tricarbonylcobalt) complexes and either η⁶-(haloarene)-η⁵-cyclopentadienyliron(II) hexafluorophosphate or ferrocene moieties were synthesized. Norbornene monomers which contained both the organoiron and the organocobalt complexes were successfully polymerized using ring opening metathesis polymerization. Radical polymerization of methacrylate monomers which contained η⁶-(haloarene)-η⁵-cyclopentadienyliron(II) hexafluorophosphate moieties and alkyne functional groups, allowed for the coordination of dicobalt hexacarbonyl post polymerization. The monomers and their precursors were characterized through nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The molecular weights of the polymers were estimated using gel permeation chromatography and the thermal properties were studied with thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Another class of organoiron monomers containing alkyne functional groups were polymerized through condensation of their η⁶-(haloarene)-η⁵-cyclopentadienyliron(II) hexafluorophosphate moieties with various dithiols. A monomer which contained both η⁶-(haloarene)-η⁵-cyclopentadienyliron(II) hexafluorophosphate and μ-alkyne-bis(tricarbonylcobalt) moieties was also combined with various dithiol linking groups. Preliminary studies on the synthesis and characterization of three siloxane based polymers which contained η⁶-(arene)-η⁵-cyclopentadienyliron(II) hexafluorophosphate moieties were also explored.Arts and Sciences, Irving K. Barber School of (Okanagan)Chemistry, Department of (Okanagan)Graduat

Installment credit in agriculture

[No abstract available]Land and Food Systems, Faculty ofGraduat

A Short History of the Steam Engine

A Short History of the Steam Engine, first published in 1939, remains one of the most readable and clear explanations of the topic for the non-specialist. H. W. Dickinson limits himself to stationary engines and boilers, and only touches on the beginnings of locomotive and marine engines. He puts the stages of development in their context, showing how economic and social factors were involved in the evolution of the steam engine. The illustrations are plentiful and the text, while technical, never becomes impenetrable. The successive improvements to the simple engines of the seventeenth century, as new materials or purposes arose, are developed chapter by chapter to the twentieth century. Each engineer was building on the work of his predecessors, rather than there being any single inventor of genius. Dickinson also wrote biographies of key figures of the Industrial Revolution, which are being reissued in this series.</jats:p