Assisted coral recovery (ACR) initiatives are establishing rapidly in coral reefs worldwide, using a variety of devices and techniques. In the Great Barrier Reef (GBR, the Reef), site-scale ACR field trials are occurring at multiple sites in the Cairns-Port Douglas region through Reef stewardship activities involving GBR tourism operators, Traditional Owners, and not-for-profit organisations. It is hypothesised that these field trials and the presence of ACR devices at reef tourism sites do not negatively affect visitor experiences, and when accompanied by appropriate educational information, can potentially help to raise awareness of Reef stewardship and conservation efforts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe number of plant-based meat products on supermarket shelves around the world has grown in recent years however reproducing the sensory experience of eating meat remains a challenge. This study aims to evaluate the sensory gaps between animal and plant-based meat products, specifically burger-type products, from the Australian market. The sample set of 19 commercially available burgers comprises 8 animal-based burgers prepared using beef, chicken, kangaroo, pork, or turkey and 11 high protein plant-based burgers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Up to 70-80% of patients use inhalers incorrectly. Dry-powder inhalers (DPIs) require forceful inhalation for optimal delivery, and approximately 40% of Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA)-defined Step-3+ patients inhale corticosteroid and long-acting beta-agonist through DPIs. The CRITIKAL study (Price et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFControlled release of drugs and other cargo from hydrogels has been an important target for the development of next generation therapies. Despite the increasingly strong focus in this area of research, very little of the published literature has sought to develop a fundamental understanding of the role of molecular parameters in determining the mechanism and rate of cargo release. Herein, a series of physically crosslinked hydrogels have been prepared utilizing host-guest binding interactions of cucurbit[8]uril that are identical in strength (plateau modulus), concentration and structure, yet exhibit varying network dynamics on account of the use of different guests for supramolecular crosslinking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHere we show the preparation of a series of water-based physically cross-linked polymeric materials utilizing cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) ternary complexes displaying a range of binding, and therefore cross-linking, dynamics. We determined that the mechanical strength of these materials is correlated directly with a high energetic barrier for the dissociation of the CB[8] ternary complex cross-links, whereas facile and rapid self-healing requires a low energetic barrier to ternary complex association. The versatile CB[8] ternary complex has, therefore, proven to be a powerful asset for improving our understanding of challenging property-structure relationships in supramolecular systems and their associated influence on the bulk behavior of dynamically cross-linked materials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCopoly(2-oxazoline)s, prepared by the cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-(dec-9-enyl)-2-oxazoline with either 2-methyl-2-oxazoline or 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline, are crosslinked with small dithiol molecules under UV irradiation to form homogeneous networks. In situ monitoring of the crosslinking reaction by photo-rheology reveals the formation of soft gels within minutes. The degree of swelling in water is tunable based on the hydrophilicity of the starting macromers and the proportion of alkene side arms present.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClathrin-coated vesicles (CCVs) mediate transport between the plasma membrane, endosomes and the trans Golgi network. Using comparative proteomics, we have identified coated-vesicle-associated kinase of 104 kDa (CVAK104) as a candidate accessory protein for CCV-mediated trafficking. Here, we demonstrate that the protein colocalizes with clathrin and adaptor protein-1 (AP-1), and that it is associated with a transferrin-positive endosomal compartment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COPII coat complex mediates the formation of transport carriers at specialized sites of the endoplasmic reticulum (ERES). It consists of the Sar1p GTPase and the Sec23/24p and the Sec13/31p subcomplexes . Both stimulate the GTPase activity of Sar1p , which itself triggers coat disassembly.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransport of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi is mediated by the sequential action of two coat complexes: COPII concentrates cargo for secretion at ER export sites, then COPI is subsequently recruited to nascent carriers and retrieves recycling proteins back to the ER. These carriers then move towards the Golgi along microtubules, driven by the dynein/dynactin complexes. Here we show that the Sec23p component of the COPII complex directly interacts with the dynactin complex through the carboxy-terminal cargo-binding domain of p150(Glued).
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