Graduate employability has become increasingly contentious as employers call for greater development, evaluation and benchmarking of student skills and capabilities in university courses. However, the increasing range of graduate attributes and competencies demanded by industry is further pressuring an Australian higher education sector already stretched by greater student numbers and declines in government funding. Given these circumstances, there is a need to better understand employer perspectives of the current and future value of vocational, interpersonal and generic attributes of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates. A survey of STEM graduate employers showed that vocational skills, such as graduates' abilities to contextually apply and develop knowledge, together with generic skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, were valued most highly. Conversely, self-confidence and independence, along with numeracy and related skills, were valued least by the employers. However, attributes such as flexibility/adaptability, self-confidence, personal planning and organisation and developing knowledge relevant to the position were all predicted to become significantly more valuable in a decade's time. The results of this study suggest that Australian undergraduate STEM curricula, which commonly focus on knowledge acquisition, be redesigned to provide students with opportunities to apply such knowledge more often, and in real life, industry-based contexts, such as workintegrated learning (WIL) and industry-based learning (IBL) programs. Through such initiatives, together with greater dialogue and collaboration between academics and employers, employability skills and attributes can be better inculcated in undergraduates, to the benefit of graduates and society as a whole.

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Network meta-analysis compares different interventions for the same condition, by combining direct and indirect evidence derived from all eligible studies. Network metaanalysis has been increasingly used by applied scientists and it is a major research topic for methodologists. This article describes the R package netmeta, which adopts frequentist methods to fit network meta-analysis models. We provide a roadmap to perform network meta-analysis, along with an overview of the main functions of the package. We present three worked examples considering different types of outcomes and different data formats to facilitate researchers aiming to conduct network meta-analysis with netmeta.

Subunit 8 of yeast mitochondrial ATP synthase is a small hydrophobic component of the membrane-associated F0 sector. Structure/function relations in subunit 8 were studied by focusing on three structural domains: a highly conserved NH2-terminal region, a central hydrophobic region (previously suggested to be a transmembrane stem), and a COOH-terminal region bearing a conserved array of three positively charged residues. A combined approach was used, which encompasses site-directed mutagenesis, in vitro import and assembly tests, and an in vivo allotopic expression system (using host cells unable to synthesise subunit 8 in mitochondria). The results indicate that the NH2-terminal region of subunit 8 is involved functionally in the F0 sector. As the central hydrophobic region can functionally tolerate the introduction of multiple, positively charged residues (which abolishes the proteolipid solubility characteristics of the entire subunit), the role of this hydrophobic region as a transmembrane stem is brought into question. Each of the three positively charged residues toward the COOH-terminus of subunit 8 is required for the efficient assembly of this subunit into the F0 sector. Removal of the more proximal charged residues Arg37 or Arg42 has a more severe impact on subunit 8 assembly than does removal of the most distal residue Lys47 in terms of both in vitro import and assembly as well as the ability of the subunit 8 variant to function in mitochondrial ATP synthase in vivo.

Pichia pastoris is a popular host organism for expressing heterologous proteins, and various expression vectors for this yeast are currently available. Recently, vectors containing novel dominant antibiotic resistance markers have become a strong and developing field of research for this methylotropic yeast strain. We have developed new P. pastoris expression vectors, the pPICKanMX6 and pPICKanMX6α series. These vectors were constructed by replacing the zeocin resistance gene of the pPICZA, B, C and pPICZαA, B and C vectors with the Tn903 kan R marker from pFA6a KanMX6, which confers G-418 sulphate resistance in P. pastoris. The limits of antibiotic resistance in two transformant yeast strains were investigated, and the selection marker was shown to be stably retained. To demonstrate their usefulness, a gene encoding hexa-histidine-tagged green fluorescent protein (GFPH6) was cloned into one of the new vectors and GFP expression examined in P. pastoris cells. The protein expression levels using the pPICKanMX6B vector were comparable with that using the original plasmid, based on zeocin resistance as seen by yeast cell fluorescence. Moreover, GFPH6 was able to be isolated by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) from lysates of both yeast strains. A model reporter construct has been used to demonstrate successful recombinant protein expression and its subsequent purification using these new vectors. Corresponding vectors can now also be engineered with foreign gene expression under the control of various different promoters, to increase the flexibility of P. pastoris as a cellular factory for heterologous protein production.

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Subunit 8 (Y8) is a component of the proton channel of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) mitochondrial ATP synthase (mtATPase), whose function in the complex remains to be precisely defined. Y8 variants truncated at residue 46 (Lys47→STP), or in which each of three conserved C‐terminal amino acid residues (Arg37, Arg42 and Lys47) were substituted with isoleucine, have defects in assembly and function. The additional positive charge substitution (Gln29→Lys) was introduced into each of the variants to determine whether functional compensation for these defects could be achieved. In the case of the (Lys47→STP) variant, the additional positive charge restored the ability of cells to grow on non‐fermentable substrate. By contrast, for the (Lys47→Ile) variant the additional positive charge did not confer any improvement in cellular growth rate compared to that of cells expressing the Lys47→Ile substitution alone. For the (Arg42→Ile) and (Arg37→Ile) variants, the presence of the Gln29→Lys substitution failed to restore growth of host cells lacking endogenous subunit 8 on non‐fermentable substrate. However, use of an in vitro assembly assay revealed that, unlike their respective parents (Arg42→Ile or Arg37→Ile), the (Gln29→Lys Arg42→Ile) and (Gln29→Lys Arg37→Ile) variants assemble into mtATPase. Thus we conclude that Arg42 and Arg37 have a role in mtATPase function, in addition to being required for assembly of Y8 into mtATPase.