In this edition:
 |
News From the Dean |
|
 |
Subra's Study Puts Urine in Focus |
|
 |
Opportunities |
|
 |
Events |
|
 |
Snippets | |
 |
Science News Archive | |
_________________________________________________________
News from the Dean |
|
Dear Colleagues, This has been another good week for the Division in terms of external recognition with Lindie Clark, Mark Taylor and Theresa Winchester-Seeto being awarded a 2008 Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (formerly the Carrick Institute). The Citation is for Lindie's, Mark's and Theresa's efforts over several years in developing work-integrated learning in their various programs. The group's contributions have been previously recognised at Macquarie , with a Vice Chancellor's Excellence in Education award (2006) prior to this national award. Congratulations Lindie, Mark and Theresa. Also on the good news front - for those interested in enrolments (and all of us should be as they pay the bulk of our salaries through the Divisional Funding Model!) I've had a quick look at Semester 2 figures and numbers generally look healthy. Second semester 100-level figures for 2008, 2007 and 2006 respectively are as follow: BIOL115 - 386, 346, 317; CBMS103 - 192, 190, 182; CHIR104 - 163, 139, 126; CHIR133 - 125, 91, 118; GEOS111 - 215, 171, 162; GEOS115 - 122, 82, 58; GEOS116 - 135, 95, 89; GEOS118 - 192, 142, 144. The figures for 2007 and 2006 are end-of-offering totals and thus reflect withdrawals during the semester. We'll obviously also lose some of the current start-of-semester enrollees, but even allowing for that totals are encouraging. It's not a bad time to have strong numbers. The challenge will of course be to convert these figures into high flow-on rates to 200- and 300-level All academics in the Division will have received an email (and perhaps a follow-up reminder) from the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) asking them to participate in the Macquarie University External Engagement and Knowledge Transfer Audit. Would all who have been requested to participate in the Audit please find time in your schedules in the next few days to do it. The online form is pretty straight forward and won't take very much of your time. The Library has informed us that the new Faculty of Science Library News (previously ELS & ICS Library News) has been placed on the Library webpage at: http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/news/newsletter/sciences.html The Winter 08 edition covers: . Scopus training; The Library hopes you find this method of circulation better and welcomes any feedback. ELS have been invited to a seminar, co-hosted by the MGSM Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Australian Centre for Innovation, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney on "Innovation and health technologies: 'celling' science?". The speaker at the event is Prof Andrew Webster, a leading UK expert in stem cell research and its commercialization. To be held on Tuesday 19 August at 4:00 pm at MGSM. RSVP no later than 15 August to research@mgsm.edu.au . Click here for further details. Finally, I'll be away this coming week. In my absence Peter Nelson will be serving as Dean. Till next week, Kevin
|
|
_________________________________________________________
Study puts urine in the spotlight
|
|
|
Dr Subra Vemulpad from the Department of Health and Chiropractic has been working closely with Professor Ewa Goldys from Physics to develop a simple fluorescent light test that could provide an almost instantaneous diagnosis for urinary tract infections. The Macquarie University researchers presented their preliminary findings at the recent 21st Congress of the International Commission for Optics held recently in Sydney. Ewa Goldys says the research could lead to a home diagnosis kit that uses simple technology now available. And they say the fluorescence test may also help provide early detection for the other disorders and diseases including cancer. Goldys says the impact of urinary tract infections is underestimated. UTIs are the cause of about 60 in 1000 patient consultations annually and are estimated to account for 30% to 40% of all hospital-acquired infections. For their study the researchers examined 70 urine samples and discovered a marked difference in the fluorescence levels at certain wavelengths in normal and bacteria-infected urine. This difference is triggered by the presence of bacteria that causes the body to respond by increasing levels of the enzyme indoleamine dioxygenase (IDO). The enzyme helps the body fight the infection by reducing levels of tryptophan, an amino acid that promotes microbial growth. Goldys says the most reliable method of confirming a urinary tract infection currently is through chemical analysis of a urine sample. However, results can take 24 hours to be available. She says although urinary tract infections can be easily treated with antibiotics it is important to have a rapid and inexpensive form of diagnosis to stop any worsening of the condition. The fluorescence test requires a light detector and light source to view the urine sample. "The physiology that we believe is actually behind this is also present in many other conditions," she says. "It's about the activation of the immune system. "The immune system begins to attack the disease and induces the same enzyme to be released." Subra says if successful the research could lead to the test being able to indicate the presence of any disease or disorder. "We are not looking for the elephant in the room, but for evidence of the presence of the elephant," he says. Under this test the "evidence of the elephant" is the body's response to the presence of bacteria. Subra says although the research is very preliminary the "potential of this is enormous". In the long term, Goldys says, home kits based on the fluorescence test could be an early warning system to let people know they should go see a doctor. However, she stresses the research is in its "early stages" and has involved a small sample. "We don't want to make any pronouncements, but we are on a bit of a trajectory and can see the potential ... we like dreaming here," she says. This article was adapted from a similar article recently appearing on the ABS Science Website at http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/07/16/2303908.htm. |
|
|
|
|
_________________________________________________________
Opportunities |
|
_________________________________________________________ NEWS.COM.AU LAUNCHES 2008 GREEN AWARDS The Green Awards highlight Australian environmental innovation in the home, in the science lab, on the Web and in the workplace. The awards are designed to recognise and celebrate everyday Australians tackling the environmental challenges facing our country and the world through clever, adaptable innovations. The NEWS.com.au Green Award categories are: The shortlist of four in each category will be selected by senior editors at NEWS.com.au. Determining the category winner will be a panel comprising: Readers can nominate themselves or someone they feel deserves the recognition by using the entry form on http://www.NEWS.com.au. Nominations for the NEWS.com.au Green Awards open at 9am AEST on 23 July 2008 and close at 5pm AEST on 15 August 2008. Finalists will be announced on 1 September 2008 alongside another special NEWS.com.au announcement. Winners will be announced on 7 September 2008. For more information on the NEWS.com.au Green Awards, visit: _________________________________________________________
Call for Nominations: 2008 Australasian Science Prize _________________________________________________________
|
|
Events |
|
_________________________________________________________ Biological Sciences Seminar this Wednesday "BRANCHING NETWORKS IN GYMNOSPERM TREES: IMPLICATIONS FOR METABOLIC SCALING" Summary: There has long been interest in identifying general mechanisms that are responsible for body-size scaling laws in both plants and animals. We present a new connection between plant body size (the size of the crown) and metabolic scaling based on the interception of light, an important resource that has so far been largely ignored in recent debates on metabolic scaling. The first observation is that plant photosynthetic production is approximately proportional to intercepted light. Secondly, growing-season light interception per unit foliage area is a function of the ratio of foliage area to crown envelope surface area. The nature of the branching network (crowns in plants) determines how foliage area scales with crown surface area through the fractal dimension. We utilize a large dataset derived from destructive harvest of gymnosperm trees to show that the fractal dimension averages 2.5, indicating that foliage area per unit crown surface area increases with size. This finding implies that light interception efficiency decreases with size in trees. For the same dataset, we show that branch biomass scales with crown surface area with exponent 1.5, so that large crown surface areas are increasingly expensive. We suggest that the increase in foliage area per unit crown surface area can be explained by the trade-off between the cost of crown construction and maintenance, and the efficiency of light interception. These new findings are further evidence that scaling relations between body size and metabolic rate may have different origins in plants and animals. Wednesday 13th August, 1:00pm, Building E8A room 290 (Biology tearoom)
_________________________________________________________ UTSpeaks: Breaking the Ice - Will we be able to live on an ice-free earth? Day by day our planet keeps warming. The rhetoric keeps flying - in the media, in politics, in science and among ourselves. Our icecaps are a crucial part of the weather system and pivotal in driving ocean currents and sustaining sea life. What will happen to us when the ice breaks, melts and the Earth warms even more? Presented by two outstanding UTS scientists, this not-to-be missed public lecture looks at the role the poles play in keeping our world working and what the implications will be if we must live on an ice-free Earth. Associate Professor Peter Ralph Professor Greg Skilbeck When Where RSVP
_________________________________________________________ “Innovation and health technologies: ‘celling’ science?”
_________________________________________________________ The great debate: does God exist? When: 23 August 2008 Michael Shermer, renowned skeptic, and John Lennox, mathematician and scientist, debate the ultimate question: does God exist? Facilitated by Paul Willis from ABC's Catalyst, this debate is sure to be engaging and entertaining, as the two speakers delve into their pet topics of intellectual theism, the origins of religion and why people believe in God? Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic Magazine and the Executive Director of the Skeptics Society, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech, and Adjunct Professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University . John Lennox has three degrees in the fields of science and mathematics and is a Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green College Oxford. His most recent book is 'God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?' . John has recently debated the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, while Michael has recently debated William Dembski, an American proponent of 'intelligent design.' Brief biographical notes for John and Michael are below. This event is free but there are limited seats. Please book your ticket at http://publicchristianity.org/BookingRetrieve.aspx?ID=26865 or call 02 9955 0077 or email info@publicchristianity.org The Great Debate is sponsored by Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists & Managers, Australia (APESMA) Michael Shermer was brought to Australia by the Australian Government for National Science Week http://www.scienceweek.info.au/Pages/index.aspx John Lennox was brought to Australia by the Centre for Public Christianity www.publicchristianity.org
The Skeptic: Dr Michael Shermer A genuine ghost-buster, Michael is on a crusade against junk science, bad science and plain old nonsense. Michael is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine (www.skeptic.com), the Executive Director of the Skeptics Society, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech, and Adjunct Professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University . His book How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God , presents his theory on the origins of religion and why people believe in God.
Far from agreeing that science might ever be 'God's undertaker', he claims that God is the ground of all explanation, not just to be called upon in aid when scientists are faced with phenomena which they cannot at present explain. _________________________________________________________
ELS Seminar Series Departments in ELS host seminars covering a wide range of topics associated with ongoing research projects and other areas of interest. The seminars are delivered by academics, research staff, and students from within the Division, as well as guest speakers from other institutions and industry. Details of times, dates, locations and topics of seminars to be held over the next few weeks are listed here. _________________________________________________________
|
|
SnippetsMelanoma detection ineffective Kangaroo meat could cut emissions Scientists could switch off cancer Tuberculosis thrives in crowded houses Bones show ancient cooling Public dental health worse Nutrition labels don't affect consumers |
|
__________________________________________
|
|