Conference Posters

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7703

Browse

Filters

2013 - 201817

Settings

Start date: 2010End date: 2019

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 17
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Becoming a distance student: Identifying and managing the key challenges
    (2018-04) Kahu E
    Approximately 25% of first year, distance students are unsuccessful – they withdraw, fail or just give up on their study. They pay the fees but they don’t get the benefit. And they go away discouraged and disheartened. This poster, using data from a PhD project following 19 first year mature-aged distance students, offers ideas for managing key challenges these students face. - My lifeload: Taking too many courses is common. Students overestimate the time they have available. Be realistic and start small: you can speed things up later. - My family and friends: Other people can be a support and a barrier. Communicate clearly what you need. And remember, this is a big change for the whole family not just you. - My time and space: Students choose distance study because it is more flexible. But you still have to find time and space to do the work. Be flexible and creative in your approach. It takes time to figure out what works for you, for your family, and for your studies. - My headspace: The first year is an emotional rollercoaster including negative feelings of anxiety or frustration. Manage the negative by talking things over and celebrate and focus on the positive. - My university: Returning to study is harder than you expect with a lot of new skills to be learned. Be patient with yourself, use the resources available and be willing to seek help.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    sFlt-1 and NTproBNP independently predict mortality in a cohort of heart failure patients.
    (2/12/2018) Paterson MA; Pilbrow AP; Frampton CM; Cameron VA; Pemberton CJ; Lund M; Devlin GP; Doughty RN; Richards AM; Palmer B
    Objective: Soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) is a circulating receptor for VEGF-A. Recent reports of elevated plasma levels of sFlt-1 in coronary heart disease and heart failure (HF) motivated our study aimed at investigating the utility of sFlt-1 as a prognostic biomarker in heart failure patients. Methods: ELISA assays for sFlt-1 and NTproBNP were performed in n=858 patients from a prospective multicentre, observational study (the PEOPLE study) of outcome among patients after appropriate treatment for an episode of acute decompensated HF in New Zealand. Plasma was sampled at a baseline visit and stored at -80°C. Statistical tests were adjusted for patient age at baseline visit, skewed data were log-adjusted and the endpoint for clinical outcome analysis was all-cause death. Patients were followed for a median of 3.63 (range 0.74-5.50) years. Results: Mean baseline plasma sFlt-1 was 125 +/- 2.01 pg/ml. sFlt-1 was higher in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) (130 +/- 2.62 pg/ml, n=553) compared to those with HF with preserved EF (HFpEF) (117 +/-3.59 pg/ml, n=305; p=0.005). sFlt-1 correlated with heart rate (r=0.148, p<0.001), systolic blood pressure (r=-0.139, p<0.001) and LVEF (r=-0.088, p=0.019). A Cox proportional hazards model showed sFlt-1 was a predictor of all-cause death (HR=6.30, p<0.001) in the PEOPLE cohort independent of age, NTproBNP, ischaemic aetiology, and NYHA class (n=842, 274 deaths), established predictors of mortality in the PEOPLE cohort. Conclusion: sFlt-1 levels at baseline should be investigated further as a predictor of death; complementary to established prognostic biomarkers in heart failure.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ELF-MF AND ELECTRIC SHOCKS AND MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE
    (4/09/2016) Chen GX; McLean D; van den Berg L; 't Mannetje A; Pearce N; Kromhout H; D'Souza W; McConnell M; Douwes J
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Dissecting the Discourse of Social Licence to Operate
    (1/08/2018) Sinner J; Newton M; Farrelly T
    The term “social licence to operate”, or SLO, has increasingly featured in public discussion about commercial operations in the marine environment. As part of the Sustainable Seas National Challenge, we are studying how this term is being used in New Zealand and its implications for industry-community relations.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Structural determination of archaeal UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 4-epimerase from Methanobrevibacter ruminantium M1 in complex with the bacterial cell wall intermediate UDP-N-acetylmuramic acid
    (2/12/2018) Carbone V; Schofield L; Sang C; Sutherland-Smith A; Ronimus RS
    The crystal structure of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 4-epimerase (UDP-GlcNAc 4-epimerase; WbpP; EC 5.1.3.7), from the archaeal methanogen Methanobrevibacter ruminantium strain M1, was determined to a resolution of 1.65 Å. The structure, with a single monomer in the crystallographic asymmetric unit, contained a conserved N-terminal Rossmann fold for nucleotide binding and an active site positioned in the C-terminus. UDP-GlcNAc 4-epimerase is a member of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase superfamily, sharing sequence motifs and structural elements characteristic of this family of oxidoreductases and bacterial 4-epimerases. The protein was co-crystallized with coenzyme NADH and UDP-N-acetylmuramic acid, the latter an unintended inclusion and well known product of the bacterial enzyme MurB and a critical intermediate for bacterial cell wall synthesis. This is a non-native UDP sugar amongst archaea and was most likely incorporated from the Eschericha coli expression host during purification of the recombinant enzyme.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Engaging in spaces: How mature distance students fit study into their homes and lives
    (2/07/2013) Kahu ER
    In order to fit study around family and work, a third of mature aged tertiary students in New Zealand study by distance. By enabling students to study when and where they want, distance study is said to overcome the barriers of space and time. But space and time must still be found and the blurring of the physical boundaries between study and home creates new challenges. While much has been written about how distance students juggle time, little has considered how they manage space; yet it is often the availability of an appropriate learning space that determines not just when and where they study, but the quality of their engagement. This qualitative study, following 19 mature aged distance students and their families through their first semester, examines how the students carved learning spaces from their busy lives, the nature of those spaces, and the impact this had on their engagement. For some, a space without other people was the essential characteristic and they achieved this through either a physical separation strategy such as studying at work, or a temporal separation strategy such as studying only when children were at school. For others, isolation was a barrier to their engagement and they gravitated to shared living spaces. Individual lifeload, context, and personal preference mean there are no right or wrong choices, but family support is a critical influence on the success of different strategies.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Combining Tn-seq with comparative genomics identifies proteins uniquely essential in Shigella flexneri
    (3/09/2015) Freed NE; Bumann D; Silander O
    Protein functions that are essential for the growth of bacterial pathogens provide promising targets for antibacterial treatment. This is especially true if those functions are uniquely essential for the pathogen, as this might allow the development of targeted antibiotics, i.e. those that disrupt essential functions only for the pathogenic bacteria. Here we present the results of a Tn-seq experiment designed to detect essential protein coding genes in Shigella flexneri 2a 2457T on a genome-wide scale. Our results suggest that 471 protein-coding genes in this organism are critical for cellular growth in rich media. Comparing this set of essential genes (the essential gene complement) with their orthologues in the closely related organism Escherichia coli K12 BW25113 revealed a significant number of genes that are essential in Shigella but not in E. coli, suggesting that the functional correspondence of these proteins had changed. Notably, we also identified a set of functionally related genes that are essential in Shigella but which have no orthologues in E. coli. We found an extreme bias in proteins that have evolved to provide essential functions, with many proteins essential in Shigella but not E. coli, but with none (or very few) being essential in E. coli but not Shigella. We also identify a set- of genes involved in nucleotide biosynthesis that are essential in Shigella, but which lack orthologues in E. coli. Consequently, the data presented here suggest that the essential gene complement can quickly become organism specific, especially for pathogenic organisms whose genomes might have reduced robustness in their metabolic capacity (e.g. functional redundancy), or a reduced numbers of protein coding genes. These results thus open the possibility of developing antibiotic treatments that target differentially essential genes, which may exist even between very closely related strains of bacteria.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A genome-wide scan of positive selection signature using Ovine Infinium® HD SNP BeadChip in two Romney lines, selected for resistance or resilience to nematodes
    (3/07/2017) Yan J; Dukkipati VSR; Blair HT; Biggs PJ; Hamie JC; Greer A
    A study was undertaken to identify selection signatures associated with resistance to gastrointestinal nematodiasis in sheep. Ninety-three Romney sheep from two selection lines (resistant or resilient) were genotyped using the Ovine Infinium® HD SNP BeadChip, and extended haplotype homozygosity (EHH) and site-specific extended haplotype homozygosity (EHHS) analyses were undertaken. In total, 224 SNPs (147 in EHH and 77 in EHHS) were found to be significant (p <0.0001). Preliminary exploration of 10 SNPs found them to be located within two previously identified QTLs, namely LATRICH_2 and FECGEN, which were associated with nematode larval count and faecal egg count, respectively.