title: A rapid approach for linear epitope profiling of a Streptococcus A vaccine candidate

authors: Browne-Cole, Kirsten

subjects: phage display

abstract: The creation of effective vaccines is a pinnacle achievement of humankind, with the maintenance and expansion of the current repertoire being crucial in supporting human health and well-being globally. Nevertheless, identification of the mechanisms responsible for protection from infection and disease remains difficult, hindering vaccine candidate progression. These factors illustrate the importance of developing a wide range of techniques available to identify and investigate potential antigens. Current tools for assessing antigen-antibody interactions, although hugely valuable, possess limitations in accessibility and throughput which this research aimed to address.

To implement an accessible rapid protocol that profiles the antibody response to linear epitopes after immunisation, we utilised phage display in conjunction with Nanopore Sequencing. A Group A Streptococcus vaccine candidate, TeeVax3, was selected as a model to explore the binding antibody population produced from immunisation and evaluate the immunogenicity of the antigen. Production of a phage library expressing overlapping TeeVax3 peptides was panned against TeeVax3 specific polyclonal antibodies from rabbits, revealing an unexpected bias for the N terminal epitope tag. Further investigation confirmed the immunogenicity of this region for both linear and conformational antibodies, with an epitope of 10- residues being identified via evaluation of binding with synthetic peptides. Although removal of purification tags is inconsistent, particularly in early stages of vaccine development, these findings illustrate the importance of doing so to ensure relevant immune responses are observed. Other potential areas of immunogenicity on the antigen were able to be observed by excluding the N-terminal region dominating the response, verifying the methods potential for evaluating vaccine candidates. The protocol presented here outlines a valuable addition to the toolkit for development of vaccine candidates, which could be easily adapted to a wide range of antigens and correlating antibody responses.

text: A rapid approach for linear epitope profiling of a Streptococcus A vaccine candidate The creation of effective vaccines is a pinnacle achievement of humankind, with the maintenance and expansion of the current repertoire being crucial in supporting human health and well-being globally. Nevertheless, identification of the mechanisms responsible for protection from infection and disease remains difficult, hindering vaccine candidate progression. These factors illustrate the importance of developing a wide range of techniques available to identify and investigate potential antigens. Current tools for assessing antigen-antibody interactions, although hugely valuable, possess limitations in accessibility and throughput which this research aimed to address.

To implement an accessible rapid protocol that profiles the antibody response to linear epitopes after immunisation, we utilised phage display in conjunction with Nanopore Sequencing. A Group A Streptococcus vaccine candidate, TeeVax3, was selected as a model to explore the binding antibody population produced from immunisation and evaluate the immunogenicity of the antigen. Production of a phage library expressing overlapping TeeVax3 peptides was panned against TeeVax3 specific polyclonal antibodies from rabbits, revealing an unexpected bias for the N terminal epitope tag. Further investigation confirmed the immunogenicity of this region for both linear and conformational antibodies, with an epitope of 10- residues being identified via evaluation of binding with synthetic peptides. Although removal of purification tags is inconsistent, particularly in early stages of vaccine development, these findings illustrate the importance of doing so to ensure relevant immune responses are observed. Other potential areas of immunogenicity on the antigen were able to be observed by excluding the N-terminal region dominating the response, verifying the methods potential for evaluating vaccine candidates. The protocol presented here outlines a valuable addition to the toolkit for development of vaccine candidates, which could be easily adapted to a wide range of antigens and correlating antibody responses.

year: 2025

title: Using digital feedback in support of middle school students’ persuasive writing skills: A Bernsteinian perspective

authors: Lyons, Florence Felicie Marie Nicole

subjects: Feedback

abstract: The provision of feedback is one of the most important changes a teacher can implement to enhance learning. Digital technology can support teachers' feedback to students by creating new and different spaces for conversations around learning. In this study I combined feedback and digital technology to create a different space for teachers and students to learn together about persuasive writing. My interest in persuasive writing arose during my reading of Bernstein’s work. Bernstein argues there are two types of codes, or discourses: restricted and elaborated codes. Students from more advantaged backgrounds can switch between these discourses. Schools operate in the elaborated code, which can be challenging to fully comprehend, especially for students from less advantaged milieu. Bernstein offers that the knowledge to be acquired at school is or needs to be recontextualised by teachers so all students can access this academic knowledge.
Persuasive writing is a difficult genre to master as it is complex and presents codes which can be challenging for students to comprehend. However, the literature suggests that it allows students to become democratically informed and active citizens. It is for this reason that this genre of writing was chosen as the focus of this study.
The investigation I undertook aimed to answer the following question: How does the use of an online collaborative writing platform to create feedback as dialogue support diverse middle school students’ learning of the persuasive genre?
To answer this question, a design-based intervention was conducted in a middle school with two participating teachers and their classes, of which 10 students were chosen by the teachers to be the target students. These students formed three groups: one group of three students was working above the national standard in writing, a group of three students was working at the standard and another group of four students was working below the standard. The study, conducted within the critical paradigm, sought to transform the educational reality for students working below the standard in writing. Students were asked to produce two pieces of persuasive writing and were provided with written and audio-based feedback on Google Docs. The teachers co-created rubrics regarding the persuasive writing genre and co-planned lessons. Data were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews, surveys, class observations, documents such as teachers’ mark books and students’ work samples.  
The findings show when effective feedback is provided to students, their writing attainment is more likely to increase. To be effective, feedback needs to be timely, personalised, and understood by the students. The four target students whose writing was below the standard benefited, and some of them preferred, from being provided with audio-based feedback. However, students whose writing attainment was already high, preferred receiving written-based feedback due to ease in reading and comprehending this feedback. Regardless of their literacy level, the target students preferred being provided feedback on Google Docs as it allowed timely and personalised feedback. The teachers and their students not only agreed on the efficacy of providing feedback on Google Docs, but they also shared the view that producing written pieces on Google Docs allowed students to produce more, better quality writing and it permitted students to redraft their work more easily.
This study provides an example of how a Bernsteinian perspective can be applied to provide a new and useful understanding of the role of feedback in supporting students to enhance their persuasive writing genre. Teachers in the study were able to use feedback to recontextualise the School’s discourse and knowledge and create a bridge to the codes students comprehended. Furthermore, the findings show that for some students whose literacy level was below the standard audio-based feedback can be particularly effective as a recontextualisation tool that helps students in comprehending the School’s discourse by making the meaning of the feedback comments more explicit for them. On the other hand, students whose literacy level was above the standard commented they preferred written feedback. These two contrasting findings can be explained by student understandings of the codes of the written feedback. A surprising finding was that although the teachers had co-created rubrics regarding persuasive writing and their students commented they would have liked to use them as they could have served as goals to aim for in their writing, the teachers did not use the rubrics. Drawing on Bernstein it is possible that these teachers found themselves in the field of production of knowledge, a field within which they did not feel comfortable operating, and so they reverted to the field of reproduction of knowledge, and used the school’s e-asTTle rubric, with which they felt more comfortable.  
The implications for teachers teaching writing are that they need to be aware of the codes their students comprehend and consider the use of recontextualisation tools, such as audio-based feedback, to modify the School’s discourse so all students can access the School’s knowledge. Professional development providers and policy makers could consider providing teachers with support and adequate training to thoroughly comprehend the process of provision of feedback.

text: Using digital feedback in support of middle school students’ persuasive writing skills: A Bernsteinian perspective The provision of feedback is one of the most important changes a teacher can implement to enhance learning. Digital technology can support teachers' feedback to students by creating new and different spaces for conversations around learning. In this study I combined feedback and digital technology to create a different space for teachers and students to learn together about persuasive writing. My interest in persuasive writing arose during my reading of Bernstein’s work. Bernstein argues there are two types of codes, or discourses: restricted and elaborated codes. Students from more advantaged backgrounds can switch between these discourses. Schools operate in the elaborated code, which can be challenging to fully comprehend, especially for students from less advantaged milieu. Bernstein offers that the knowledge to be acquired at school is or needs to be recontextualised by teachers so all students can access this academic knowledge.
Persuasive writing is a difficult genre to master as it is complex and presents codes which can be challenging for students to comprehend. However, the literature suggests that it allows students to become democratically informed and active citizens. It is for this reason that this genre of writing was chosen as the focus of this study.
The investigation I undertook aimed to answer the following question: How does the use of an online collaborative writing platform to create feedback as dialogue support diverse middle school students’ learning of the persuasive genre?
To answer this question, a design-based intervention was conducted in a middle school with two participating teachers and their classes, of which 10 students were chosen by the teachers to be the target students. These students formed three groups: one group of three students was working above the national standard in writing, a group of three students was working at the standard and another group of four students was working below the standard. The study, conducted within the critical paradigm, sought to transform the educational reality for students working below the standard in writing. Students were asked to produce two pieces of persuasive writing and were provided with written and audio-based feedback on Google Docs. The teachers co-created rubrics regarding the persuasive writing genre and co-planned lessons. Data were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews, surveys, class observations, documents such as teachers’ mark books and students’ work samples.  
The findings show when effective feedback is provided to students, their writing attainment is more likely to increase. To be effective, feedback needs to be timely, personalised, and understood by the students. The four target students whose writing was below the standard benefited, and some of them preferred, from being provided with audio-based feedback. However, students whose writing attainment was already high, preferred receiving written-based feedback due to ease in reading and comprehending this feedback. Regardless of their literacy level, the target students preferred being provided feedback on Google Docs as it allowed timely and personalised feedback. The teachers and their students not only agreed on the efficacy of providing feedback on Google Docs, but they also shared the view that producing written pieces on Google Docs allowed students to produce more, better quality writing and it permitted students to redraft their work more easily.
This study provides an example of how a Bernsteinian perspective can be applied to provide a new and useful understanding of the role of feedback in supporting students to enhance their persuasive writing genre. Teachers in the study were able to use feedback to recontextualise the School’s discourse and knowledge and create a bridge to the codes students comprehended. Furthermore, the findings show that for some students whose literacy level was below the standard audio-based feedback can be particularly effective as a recontextualisation tool that helps students in comprehending the School’s discourse by making the meaning of the feedback comments more explicit for them. On the other hand, students whose literacy level was above the standard commented they preferred written feedback. These two contrasting findings can be explained by student understandings of the codes of the written feedback. A surprising finding was that although the teachers had co-created rubrics regarding persuasive writing and their students commented they would have liked to use them as they could have served as goals to aim for in their writing, the teachers did not use the rubrics. Drawing on Bernstein it is possible that these teachers found themselves in the field of production of knowledge, a field within which they did not feel comfortable operating, and so they reverted to the field of reproduction of knowledge, and used the school’s e-asTTle rubric, with which they felt more comfortable.  
The implications for teachers teaching writing are that they need to be aware of the codes their students comprehend and consider the use of recontextualisation tools, such as audio-based feedback, to modify the School’s discourse so all students can access the School’s knowledge. Professional development providers and policy makers could consider providing teachers with support and adequate training to thoroughly comprehend the process of provision of feedback.

year: 2021

title: Mouri Tu, Mouri Moko, Mouri Ora! Moko as a wellbeing strategy

authors: Penehira, Mera

subjects: Maori

abstract: This research has been undertaken within the Health Research Council funded International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Partnership (ICIHRP) program, “The role of resiliency in responding to blood borne viral and sexually transmitted infections in Indigenous communities”. Some Indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand and Canada have been shown to experience higher rates of blood borne viral infections. There are a number of categories of health intervention that have been shown to be effective in prevention and enhancing access to treatment for blood borne viral infections, including various forms of health promotion, enhanced diagnostic and treatment services, and harm reduction measures related to injecting drug use. The present research was undertaken with the understanding that development of effective responses of this kind among Indigenous people would benefit from a better understanding of the social and cultural factors that might protect against these infections and their consequences. It is argued that such factors are linked in various ways to Indigenous resistance and resiliency, which is described as the means by which people choose to make use of individual and community strengths to protect themselves against adverse health outcomes and enhance their health and wellbeing.

In this thesis I explore how people and their identity are affected when you are part of a marginalised or vulnerable population – namely, Māori women who have contracted the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). I argue that traditional knowledge and healing practices are central to Māori getting well and keeping well, and that the use of cultural frameworks and practices have potentially restorative, therapeutic and healing values that are not yet researched or understood by the health field. I argue that a Māori framework of wellbeing, namely ‘Mana Kaitiakitanga’, provides the context in which tā moko (Māori traditional tattoo) fits naturally as a healing intervention. I share the stories of Māori women with HCV who have applied this (tā moko and other forms of tattoo) in their lives and in their journeys back to wellness. Tā moko is a process that penetrates the flesh and marks the skin; it is a process that involves both blood and pain, which may seem incongruous with healing. It is argued however that through pain comes understanding; through pain comes a RE-membering of strength; through pain comes joy; and finally through marking comes identity of who we are and how well we have been and can be again.

Issues and intersections of identity, marginalisation, gender, health, and wellbeing are at the forefront of this research story and of the journeys of the three women whose case studies are presented in this thesis. What makes this thesis unique is that it researches all three of these potential cornerstones of health: identity; wellbeing (spiritual and emotional), and physical wellbeing, in relation to a specific health problem, namely HCV. It is intended that this work will add power to what might be viewed as a particularly Indigenous solution to a virus that disproportionately affects our Indigenous population. This is not about rejecting Western health solutions, but it is about recognising and returning to Indigenous health solutions.

text: Mouri Tu, Mouri Moko, Mouri Ora! Moko as a wellbeing strategy This research has been undertaken within the Health Research Council funded International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Partnership (ICIHRP) program, “The role of resiliency in responding to blood borne viral and sexually transmitted infections in Indigenous communities”. Some Indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand and Canada have been shown to experience higher rates of blood borne viral infections. There are a number of categories of health intervention that have been shown to be effective in prevention and enhancing access to treatment for blood borne viral infections, including various forms of health promotion, enhanced diagnostic and treatment services, and harm reduction measures related to injecting drug use. The present research was undertaken with the understanding that development of effective responses of this kind among Indigenous people would benefit from a better understanding of the social and cultural factors that might protect against these infections and their consequences. It is argued that such factors are linked in various ways to Indigenous resistance and resiliency, which is described as the means by which people choose to make use of individual and community strengths to protect themselves against adverse health outcomes and enhance their health and wellbeing.

In this thesis I explore how people and their identity are affected when you are part of a marginalised or vulnerable population – namely, Māori women who have contracted the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). I argue that traditional knowledge and healing practices are central to Māori getting well and keeping well, and that the use of cultural frameworks and practices have potentially restorative, therapeutic and healing values that are not yet researched or understood by the health field. I argue that a Māori framework of wellbeing, namely ‘Mana Kaitiakitanga’, provides the context in which tā moko (Māori traditional tattoo) fits naturally as a healing intervention. I share the stories of Māori women with HCV who have applied this (tā moko and other forms of tattoo) in their lives and in their journeys back to wellness. Tā moko is a process that penetrates the flesh and marks the skin; it is a process that involves both blood and pain, which may seem incongruous with healing. It is argued however that through pain comes understanding; through pain comes a RE-membering of strength; through pain comes joy; and finally through marking comes identity of who we are and how well we have been and can be again.

Issues and intersections of identity, marginalisation, gender, health, and wellbeing are at the forefront of this research story and of the journeys of the three women whose case studies are presented in this thesis. What makes this thesis unique is that it researches all three of these potential cornerstones of health: identity; wellbeing (spiritual and emotional), and physical wellbeing, in relation to a specific health problem, namely HCV. It is intended that this work will add power to what might be viewed as a particularly Indigenous solution to a virus that disproportionately affects our Indigenous population. This is not about rejecting Western health solutions, but it is about recognising and returning to Indigenous health solutions.

year: 2011