Food play: A novel research methodology for visceral geographers and health researchers.

This paper reinforces the value of visceral geographic approaches to health research as a method 'beyond talking'. The paper establishes and sets out an integrative embodied multi-sensory research methodology - food play. Researchers across the social sciences and sciences are exploring the limits of logo and researcher centric research methods and exploring peoples sensory experience of themselves and the wider world using participatory, patient-centred, multi-sensory, visceral and biosocial geographic approaches. With reference to the growing interest in visceral approaches to research in geography, and sensory research in neurology, anthropology and embodied cognition in psychology, we argue that the presence and pungency of food uniquely animates research, and for our research, provided highly individualised insight into the lived experience of living long term with eating difficulties, allowing visceral difference to emerge and be expressed. We illustrate our approach with reference to a six-year research project, Resources for Living, co-produced with survivors of head and neck cancer and underpinned by a series of food play workshops to address post-treatment and chronic difficulties with food and eating.

Altered eating: a definition and framework for assessment and intervention.

BACKGROUND: Eating can be a significant challenge for cancer survivors; however, to date there is no systematic way of assessing and addressing food related quality of life in this group. The purpose of our study was to develop a framework for doing so. METHODS: Over the course of 6 years in participant-led food workshops, we worked alongside 25 head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors and their partners, employing video-reflexive ethnographic (VRE) methods. The current study reports on data from the two summative workshops of this series where we worked with participants to cohere the emergent themes. Video and transcripts were reviewed and coded with participants and stakeholders according to domains of life that were affected by food. Three of the authors, one of whom is both survivor and researcher, arrived at the consensus framework. RESULTS: Seven areas of life were identified as affecting, or being affected by, altered eating. Three were physiological: anatomical, functional and sensory. Two captured the cognitive and behavioural labour of eating. Social life and identity were altered. The foregoing had an enduring emotional impact. CONCLUSIONS: Altered eating has physical, emotional and social consequences. The altered eating framework provides a systematic way of exploring those consequences with individual survivors. This framework has the potential to improve both the assessment and treatment of altered eating, to benefit food-related quality of life.

Production of antibodies to recombinant antigens from Lucilia cuprina following cutaneous immunisation of sheep.

Immunological control of cutaneous myiasis of sheep caused by Lucilia cuprina larvae has been an elusive goal. Antibody to antigens derived from the peritrophic membrane can stunt or kill larvae in a dose dependent fashion. Thus efficacy of vaccines employing these antigens may be limited by the amount of antibody in skin available for ingestion by larvae. The potential for elevating antibody concentrations in skin by intradermal immunisation with the recombinant peritrophic membrane antigens peritrophin-44, peritrophin-48 and peritrophin-95 was therefore examined. Using within-animal comparisons, specific antibody was significantly higher in skin transudates from locally immunised sites than from adjacent adjuvant control sites. It was concluded that cutaneous immunisation may assist immunological control of blowfly larvae.

The effect of dexamethasone on some immunological parameters in cattle.

Immunosuppression as a consequence of acute and chronic stress can increase the susceptibility of cattle to a range of infectious diseases. In order to develop a panel of immune function assays for investigating the effects of potential stressors on immune competence in cattle, the effect of treatment with short- and long-acting preparations of the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone was examined. Short-acting dexamethasone (dexamethasone sodium phosphate 0.08 mg/kg) followed 37 h later by long-acting dexamethasone (dexamethasone-21 isonicotinate 0.25 mg/kg) was injected intramuscularly and blood was collected to assess immune functions at intervals over the subsequent 11 days from 6 treated and 6 control Hereford steers. Dexamethasone induced leukocytosis (neutrophilia, eosinopenia, lymphopenia, monocytosis), an increased neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio, an elevated percentage of CD4+ lymphocytes, a decreased total CD8+ lymphocyte count, decreased total and percentage WC1+ lymphocytes, an elevated percentage of IL-2 receptor alpha (IL-2Ralpha)+ lymphocytes, and an elevated percentage of B lymphocytes. In vitro chemotaxis of peripheral blood neutrophils to human C5a and ovine IL-8 was increased by dexamethasone treatment. Lymphocyte proliferation in the presence of phytohaemagglutinin, and serum concentrations of IgM, but not IgA or IgG1, were suppressed by dexamethasone treatment, whereas mitogen-induced production of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), neutrophil expression of CD18, neutrophil myeloperoxidase activity and natural killer (NK) cell activity were not influenced by dexamethasone treatment. The results indicate the potential for haematology and immune function assays to reflect elevated activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in cattle. Immunological parameters may thus provide a useful adjunct to cortisol and behavioural observations for assessing the impact of stress on the welfare of cattle.

Study of cervicovaginal fetal fibronectin status to guide treatment of threatened preterm labour.

A sequential controlled pilot study of 48 women (16 study, 32 controls) was performed to explore the place of bedside fetal fibronectin testing in the management of apparent preterm labour; 80% of the study group were successfully managed without tocolytic therapy, on the basis of fetal fibronectin test results, without detriment to the babies. Rapid bedside fetal fibronectin testing holds promise that protocols for management of women in apparent preterm labour, with intact membranes and without significant cervical dilatation, may be altered so that most of the unnecessary use of tocolytic drugs is avoided.

Effects of purified bovine whey factors on cellular immune functions in ruminants.

The immunomodulatory properties of bovine milk and whey have long been documented. The recent advance of whey protein fractionation technology has now allowed us to study the immunobiological properties of some highly purified components of whey, with a view to exploiting their possible industrial and biomedical applications. The effects of fractionated bovine whey proteins on cellular immune responses were therefore examined using a panel of in vitro assays. Both lactoferrin (LF) and lactoperoxidase (LP) were found to inhibit proliferation and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production of ovine blood lymphocytes in response to mitogenic stimulation. However, their effects in a combined fraction or in whey protein concentrate (WPC) were either diminished or eliminated. LF and LP had no effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ovine blood lymphocyte proliferation, production of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) by ovine bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) macrophages, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Class II antigen expression by ovine BAL macrophages and bovine natural killer (NK) cell activity. However, alpha-lactalbumin (alpha LA) exhibited an enhancing effect on IL-1 beta production. It is noteworthy that as bovine whey fractions become progressively more purified, their modulatory effects on the immune response also become more clear-cut. The effects of LF, LP and alpha LA may be eliminated by their combination in whey or by other minor components of whey. Further investigation of industrial applications for whey proteins of high purity is warranted.

Influence of whey and purified whey proteins on neutrophil functions in sheep.

The effects of ruminant whey and its purified fractions on neutrophil chemotaxis and superoxide production in sheep were studied. Both colostral whey and milk whey were found to inhibit chemotaxis regardless of whether they were autologous or homologous, but the inhibitory effects were abolished by washing neutrophils with culture medium before their use in the chemotaxis assay. Colostral whey and milk whey also inhibited the chemotactic activity of zymosan-activated serum. Whey fractions of various degrees of purity such as lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, lactoferrin-lactoperoxidase, alpha-lactalbumin, bovine serum albumin and whey protein concentrate were then studied. While none of these proteins showed any effects on chemotaxis, lactoferrin-lactoperoxidase and whey protein concentrate were found to have an enhancing effect on superoxide production in a dose-dependent manner. Our results provide information on the modulatory role of ruminant milk proteins in inflammatory responses and warrant future investigation.

Field trial of a staphylococcal mastitis vaccine in dairy herds: clinical, subclinical and microbiological assessments.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of a new staphylococcal mastitis vaccine under commercial dairying conditions. DESIGN: A field trial involving 1819 cows and heifers conducted on seven dairy herds in Victoria. The trial was done 'blind'; approximately half the animals were vaccinated and the remainder were untreated controls. PROCEDURE: The vaccine was given twice during the last 10 weeks of pregnancy. Effects of vaccination were assessed, during the ensuing lactation, on the basis of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis and microbiological investigations of the milk. RESULTS: A total of 273 cases of clinical mastitis were recorded. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 112 of these, 45 cases in vaccinates and 67 cases in controls; the difference was not statistically significant. One herd was notable in having a high incidence of clinical staphylococcal mastitis. This herd accounted for 15.8% of the animals in the field trial but 54.5% of cases of clinical staphylococcal mastitis. For this herd, vaccinated animals had significantly lower incidence of clinical staphylococcal mastitis and prevalence of subclinical mastitis, relative to controls. An unexpected feature of the trial as a whole was the low incidence of clinical mastitis from which S aureus was isolated in pure culture (26.3% of cases) and the high incidence of clinical Streptococcus uberis mastitis (22.7% of cases). CONCLUSIONS: The trial showed that the vaccine was efficacious in reducing the incidence of clinical mastitis and prevalence of subclinical mastitis in a herd that had a serious staphylococcal mastitis problem.

Modulation of immune responses by bovine beta-casein.

The present reports the influence of bovine beta-casein on in vitro and in vivo immune responses. Bovine beta-casein showed an inhibitory effect on ovine neutrophil chemotaxis but had an enhancing effect on superoxide production by neutrophils. In response to mitogenic stimulation, the proliferative response of both T and B lymphocytes was significantly enhanced by beta-casein. While beta-casein had no significant effects on IFN gamma production by ovine blood lymphocytes, and TNF alpha production and MCH Class II antigen expression by ovine bronchoalveolar macrophages, it enhanced IL-1 beta production by the macrophages, beta-casein also had no influence on bovine NK cell activity against a virally-infected cell line. Interestingly, beta-casein was found to reduce the adjuvant effect of matrix immune stimulating complexes (ISCOM) on anti-ovalbumin antibody response in mice when given intramuscularly. Taken together, the results suggest that bovine beta-casein had selective modulating effects in vitro on both innate and adaptive immune responses in ruminants, whereas systemic administration of beta-casein, that might have a depressive effect on adjuvant activity, requires further study.

Some relationships between age, immune responsiveness and resistance to parasites in ruminants.

In the Australian livestock industries, susceptibility to infectious diseases is generally greater in young than in mature ruminants. The increased susceptibility is manifest as respiratory and intestinal infections (viral and bacterial) of calves, as well as fleece rot, flystrike and, especially, gastrointestinal parasitic infestations of young sheep. Lower resistance to infectious disease in young ruminants appears to be due largely to immunological hyporesponsiveness, and is not simply a consequence of their not having been exposed sufficiently to pathogens to develop active immunity. Young sheep have significantly lower proportions of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes, but similar proportions of T19+ and B lymphocytes in blood, lymph and skin compared with mature sheep. Blood lymphocytes from young sheep produce less interferon-gamma in culture and young sheep invariably mount smaller antibody responses than do mature animals. Taken together, these findings begin to explain why young ruminants are more susceptible to infectious diseases in general, and to gastrointestinal parasites in particular, when compared to mature animals. Haematological markers of disease resistance, the prevalence of non-selected diseases and immune responses to vaccination were examined in the internal parasite-resistance flocks in Armidale NSW and the fleece rot/flystrike selection flocks at Trangie NSW. Any programme that seeks to improve resistance to parasitic or any other disease should have the capacity to make contemporary measurements of resistance to other diseases which are important in, or threaten, the production system.

Immunomodulatory activities of whey fractions in efferent prefemoral lymph of sheep.

Studies on the immunomodulatory activities of ruminant milk and colostral whey fractions were undertaken. By comparing with boiled colostral whey in a preliminary experiment, a putative heat-labile immunostimulatory factor for antibody responses was found to be present in ovine colostral whey. Studies were then undertaken in sheep in which the efferent prefemoral lymphatic ducts were cannulated bilaterally, and immune responses in the node were measured following subcutaneous injection in the flank fold of whey protein preparations of various purities. A significant sustained decline of efferent lymphocyte output was observed following injection with autologous crude milk whey or colostral whey preparations, but no changes were observed in interferon-gamma levels in lymph plasma. Two bovine milk whey fractions (lactoperoxidase and lactoferrin) of high purity were compared in bilaterally cannulated sheep. A transient decline over the first 6 h was seen in the efferent lymphocyte output and lymph flow rate after injection of both fractions. A significant difference was seen between the two fractions in interferon-gamma levels in lymph at 6 h after injection. However, no significant changes in the proportion of the various efferent lymphocyte phenotypes were seen following either treatment. Whereas both fractions showed a significant inhibitory effect in a dose-dependent manner on the proliferative response of T lymphocytes, but not B lymphocytes, to mitogenic stimulation in vitro, no similar changes were seen following in vivo stimulation with these two fractions.

Maintenance of acquired immunity to Trichostrongylus colubriformis in Merino sheep that are losing weight.

The effect of loss of weight on maintenance of acquired immunity to Trichostrongylus colubriformis in Merino sheep was assessed in 2 experiments. Adult Merino sheep with previously acquired immunity to T colubriformis were housed in individual pens. Sheep were infected 3 times weekly with 2000 T colubriformis larvae. A diet based on chopped oaten and lucerne hay (experiment 1) or a pelleted diet based on lucerne hay and grain products (experiment 2), was offered in amounts to sustain a moderate gain in body weight, or was reduced step-wise to cause a loss in body weight. Worm egg counts were determined weekly. The reduction in feed on offer resulted in a mean weight loss of 4.0 kg over 9 weeks (experiment 1) or 4.8 kg over 7 weeks (experiment 2). Based on worm egg counts, there was no indication of a change in immunity to T colubriformis in either of the experiments. These results suggest that acquired immunity to T colubriformis in adult sheep that are exposed to infection is maintained during periods of moderate loss of weight associated with inadequate nutrition.

Immunomodulatory effects of dietary whey proteins in mice.

Studies on the immunomodulatory properties of dietary whey proteins in mice are reported. Ingestion of bovine milk whey proteins, either as a supplement in an adequately balanced commercial diet or as the only protein source in a balanced diet, consistently enhanced secondary humoral antibody responses following systemic immunization with ovalbumin, when compared with other protein sources such as soyabean protein isolate and ovine colostral whey proteins. After 5-8 weeks of feeding, dietary milk whey proteins enhanced cell-mediated immune responses as revealed by footpad delayed-type hypersensitivity responses, and concanavalin A-induced spleen cell proliferative responses. To monitor nutritional effects of milk whey proteins, live weight, leucocyte counts and clinical changes of diet-fed mice were examined. The present results confirm other previous results that dietary bovine milk whey proteins have immunoenhancing properties in mice and these properties are unlikely to be related solely to the nutritional effects.

Spontaneous corporeal herniation of the penis: a new abnormality of the tunica albuginea?

A 63-year-old man presented with a penile mass present only during erections. Radiographic evaluation suggested a vascular lesion but the only abnormality identified at exploration was local attenuation of the tunica albuginea with aneurysmal dilatation of the corpora cavernosa. We believe this to be the first report of spontaneous herniation of the tunica albuginea of the penis. The possible etiology of this disorder is discussed.

Age-dependent immune response in Merino sheep.

The numerical and functional attributes of populations of lymphocytes were compared in the blood, lymph and skin of young and mature sheep. Young sheep, four to eight months old, had a lower proportion of CD4+ cells in blood, lymph and skin than mature sheep three to six years old. In contrast, B cells and T19+ cells were as prevalent or more prevalent in young sheep as in mature sheep. Blood lymphocytes from young sheep, cultured in vitro produced less interferon-gamma, both spontaneously and in the presence of concanavalin A than did lymphocytes from older sheep. The serum antibody responses of adult sheep to the T cell-independent antigen Brucella abortus lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were greater over a range of antigen doses, suggesting that an apparent excess of antigen could not overcome the relative immune deficiency of young sheep. The adjuvant Quil A corrected the depressed antibody response of young sheep to B abortus LPS, but dextran sulphate did not. The skin contact hypersensitivity of mature sheep to dinitrochlorobenzene was greater. However, the T cell phenotypes present in infiltrates of lymphocytes elicited by the intradermal injection of tetanus and diphtheria, but not tuberculin antigens, were comparable for the two age groups. The capacity of Quil A to raise the antibody responses of both young and mature sheep to a similar titre suggests that it may be possible to overcome the immunological hyporesponsiveness that may contribute to the disease susceptibility of young sheep.