Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

'The Psychiatric Consumer': The Use Of Student Stories To Inform Course Development, Julie Bradshaw, Lorna Moxham

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

With one in five Australians likely to experience the burden of a major mental illness (Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care Services, 1997), undergraduate nursing programs must prepare graduates to be able to work in the area of mental health. A change to the undergraduate nursing curriculum at Central Queensland University provided the impetus to review the traditional way in which we develop and teach our subjects. The authors saw it as essential to develop a psychiatric nursing subject that not only teaches the student the necessary skills and knowledge to safely and effectively care for the mentally ill …

The Burden Of The Rheumatic Diseases In The General Adult Population Of Greece: The Esordig Study, A A. Andrianakos, Spyridon Miyakis, P Trontzas, G Kaziolas, F Christoyannis, D Karamitsos, G Karanikolas, P Dantis

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the burden of rheumatic diseases in terms of disability and health-care utilization in the Greek general adult population. METHODS: The study was conducted on the total adult population of seven communities (8547 subjects), as well as on 2100 out of 5686 randomly selected subjects in an additional two communities. Rheumatologists visited the participants at their homes to assess the prevalence of six morbidity indicators concerning disability and health-care utilization associated with rheumatic diseases or other major disease groups. RESULTS: The participation rate in the study was 82.1%. The prevalence of chronic health problems, long-term disability, short-term disability, …

Fire Retardancy And Morphology Of Nylon 6-Clay Nanocomposite Compositions, Kadhirava Shanmuganathan, Sandeep Razdan, Nicholas Dembsey, Qinguo Fan, Yong K. Kim, Paul D. Calvert, Steven B. Warner, Prabir Patra

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

We investigated the effect of organically modified clay on the thermal and flammability behavior of nylon 6 nanocomposites. We also used zinc borate along with layered silicate with an aim of achieving synergistic effect in flame retardancy. It is found that addition of 10 wt% clay reduced the onset decomposition (5% wt loss) temperature of nylon 6 by 20°C, while addition of 5 wt% zinc borate and 5 wt% clay in combination reduced it by around 10°C. Differential thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the peak decomposition temperature was not affected by the addition of clay, but the rate of weight loss …

Time-Dependent Mobility And Recombination Of The Photoinducted Charge Carriers In Conjugated Polymer/Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells, Attila J. Mozer, D Dennler, N S. Sariciftci, M Westerling, A Pivrikas, R Österbacka, J Juška

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Time-dependent mobility and recombination in the blend of poly[2-methoxy-5-(3,7-dimethyloctyloxy)-phenylene vinylene] (MDMO-PPV) and 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)propyl-1-phenyl-(6,6)-C61(PCBM) is studied simultaneously using the photoinduced charge carrier extraction by linearly increasing voltage technique. The charge carriers are photogenerated by a strongly absorbed, 3 ns laser flash, and extracted by the application of a reverse bias voltage pulse after an adjustable delay time (tdel). It is found that the mobility of the extracted charge carriers decreases with increasing delay time, especially shortly after photoexcitation. The time-dependent mobility μ(t) is attributed to the energy relaxation of the charge carriers towards the tail states of the density of states …

A New Early Silurian Species Of Trimerella (Brachiopoda: Craniata) From The Orange District, New South Wales, Ian G. Percival, Anthony J. Wright

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Trimerella australis, a new species of craniate brachiopod, is described from silicified material extracted from Early Silurian limestone in the Bowan Park district, 22 km west of Orange in central New South Wales. Accompanying conodonts of the Distomodus staurognathoides Zone indicate this unnamed unit is mid Llandovery (latest Aeronian to earliest Telychian) in age, and support correlation with the Cobblers Creek Limestone at the base of the Waugoola Group. As with most other occurrences of trimerellide brachiopods in the Late Ordovician and Early Silurian of the Lachlan Orogen, T. australis completely dominates its depauperate faunal associates of corals including Aphyllum? …

Llandovery (Early Silurian) Graptolites From The Quidong Basin, Nsw, R B. Rickards, R A. Parkes, Anthony J. Wright

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Late Llandovery (Early Silurian) graptolites from several localities in the Merriangaah Siltstone, Quidong Basin, southern NSW, are described as Monograptus priodon (Bronn, 1835), Oktavites falx (Suess, 1851) and Oktavites bodentoeriensis Loydell, 2003. This is the first use of the generic name Oktavites in Australia. The firm age for this fauna to the spiralis graptolite Biozone and new age data from the Quidong Limestone place a maximum age for the unconformity between the Siltstone and the overlying Quidong Limestone, constraining the Quidongan Orogeny between the latest part of the Llandovery and the late or latest Wenlock.

Bovine Feces From Animals With Gastrointestinal Infections Are A Source Of Serologically Diverse Atypical Enteropathogenic Escherichia Coli And Shiga Toxin-Producing E. Coli Strains That Commonly Possess Intimin, Michael A Hornitzky, Kim Mercieca, Karl A Bettelheim, Steven P. Djordjevic

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) cells were isolated from 191 fecal samples from cattle with gastrointestinal infections (diagnostic samples) collected in New South Wales, Australia. By using a multiplex PCR, E. coli cells possessing combinations of stx₁, stx₂, eae, and ehxA were detected by a combination of direct culture and enrichment in E. coli (EC) (modified) broth followed by plating on vancomycin-cefixime-cefsulodin blood (BVCC) agar for the presence of enterohemolytic colonies and on sorbitol MacConkey agar for the presence of non-sorbitol-fermenting colonies. The high prevalence of the intimin gene eae …

Enzyme Activity And Flexibility At Very Low Hydration, V Kurkal, R M. Daniel, John L. Finney, Moeava Tehei, R V. Dunn, Jeremy C. Smith

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Recent measurements have demonstrated enzyme activity at hydrations as low as 3%. This raises the question of whether hydration-induced enzyme flexibility is important for activity. Here, to address this, picosecond dynamic neutron scattering experiments are performed on pig liver esterase powders at 0%, 3%, 12%, and 50% hydration by weight and at temperatures ranging from 120 to 300 K. At all temperatures and hydrations, significant quasielastic scattering intensity is found in the protein, indicating the presence of anharmonic, diffusive motion. As the hydration increases, a temperature-dependent dynamical transition appears and strengthens involving additional diffusive motion. The implication of these results …

Fatality After Deliberate Ingestion Of The Pesticide Rotenone: A Case Report., David Wood, Hadi Alsahaf, Peter Streete, Paul Dargan, Alison L. Jones

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Rotenone is a pesticide derived from the roots of plants from the Leguminosae family. Poisoning following deliberate ingestion of these plant roots has commonly been reported in Papua New Guinea. However, poisoning with commercially available rotenone in humans has been reported only once previously following accidental ingestion in a 3.5-year-old child. Therefore, the optimal management of rotenone poisoning is not known. After deliberate ingestion of up to 200 ml of a commercially available 0.8% rotenone solution, a 47-year-old female on regular metformin presented with a reduced level of consciousness, metabolic acidosis and respiratory compromise. Metformin was not detected in premortem …

A Contemporary Case Study Illustrating The Integration Of Health Information Technologies Into The Organisation And Clinical Practice Of Radiation Oncology, Andrew Alexis Miller, Aaron Phillips

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The development of software in radiation oncology departments has seen the increase in capability from the Record and Verify software focused on patient safety to a fully-fledged Oncology Information System (OIS). This paper reports on the medical aspects of the implementation of a modern Oncology Information System (IMPAC MultiAccess, also known as the Siemens LANTIS) in a New Zealand hospital oncology department. The department was successful in translating paper procedures into electronic procedures, and the report focuses on the changes in approach to organisation and data use that occurred. The difficulties that were faced, which included procedural re-design, management of …

New Informatics-Based Work Flow Paradigms In Radiation Oncology: The Potential Impact On Epidemiological Cancer Research, Andrew Alexis Miller

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Epidemiological research is worthless without verifiable source data. Much of this data is common to the clinical environment. Currently, substantial resources are allocated to data management bureaucracies in attempts to ensure data accuracy. These bureaucracies developed in the era of paper records, but in the present health information climate, the ability to share electronic data presents exciting possibilities, while placing new responsibilities on the gatherers of information and challenging them to develop new work flow paradigms. Radiation oncologists have a pivotal role to play in the processing of oncological data for future epidemiological research because of the substantial overlap in …

Forensic Facial Approximation: An Overview Of Current Methods Used At The Victorian Institute Of Forensic Medicine/Victoria Police Criminal Identification Squad, S Hayes, R Taylor, A Patterson

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Forensic facial approximation involves building a likeness of the head and face on the skull of an unidentified individual, with the aim that public broadcast of the likeness will trigger recognition in those who knew the person in life. This paper presents an overview of the collaborative practice between Ronn Taylor (Forensic Sculptor to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine) and Detective Sergeant Adrian Paterson (Victoria Police Criminal Identification Squad). This collaboration involves clay modelling to determine an approximation of the person's head shape and feature location, with surface texture and more speculative elements being rendered digitally onto an image …

Replication Termination In Escherichia Coli: Structure And Anti-Helicase Activity Of The Tus-Ter Complex, Cameron Neylon, Andrew V. Kralicek, Thomas M. Hill, Nicholas E. Dixon

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The arrest of DNA replication in Escherichia coli is triggered by the encounter of a replisome with a Tus protein-Ter DNA complex. A replication fork can pass through a Tus-Ter complex when traveling in one direction but not the other, and the chromosomal Ter sites are oriented so replication forks can enter, but not exit, the terminus region. The Tus-Ter complex acts by blocking the action of the replicative DnaB helicase, but details of the mechanism are uncertain. One proposed mechanism involves a specific interaction between Tus-Ter and the helicase that prevents further DNA unwinding, while …

Development Of A Novel Nutrition Screening Tool For Use In Elderly South Africans, Karen E. Charlton, Tracy Kolbe-Alexander, Johanna Nel

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objective: To develop a nutrition screening tool for use in older South Africans. Design: A cross-sectional validation study in 283 free-living and institutionalised black South Africans (60+ years). Methods: Trained fieldworkers administered a 24-hour recall and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) screening tool, and performed anthropometric measurements and physical function tests. Cognitive function was assessed using a validated version of the Six-Item Cognitive Impairment Test. Biochemical indicators assessed included serum albumin, haemoglobin, ferritin, vitamin B12, red-blood-cell folate, cholesterol and vitamin C. The MNA was used as the gold standard against which a novel screening tool was developed using a six-step …

Bimolecular Recombination Coefficient As A Sensitive Testing Parameter For Low-Mobility Solar-Cell Materials, A Pivrikas, G Juska, Attila J. Mozer, M Scharber, A Arlauskas, N S. Sariciftci, H Stubb, R Osterbacka

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Bimolecular charge carrier recombination has been clarified in bulk-heterojunction solar cells based on a blend of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) and 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)propyl-1-phenyl-[6,6]- methanofullerene using the time-of-flight method. We show how bimolecular recombination influences the charge carrier transport, how it limits the efficiency of low-mobility solar cells, and how to estimate the bimolecular recombination coefficient. We found that bimolecular recombination in these efficient photovoltaic materials is orders of magnitude slower as compared to Langevin recombination expected for low-mobility materials. This effect is inherent to the nanomorphology of the bicontinuous interpenetrating network creating separate pathways for electrons and holes, and paves the way for …

Silurian Graptolites From The Barnby Hills Shale And The Hanover Formation, New South Wales, R B. Rickards, J R. Farrell, Anthony J. Wright, E J. Morgan

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Additional collections of graptolites from the Barnby Hills Shale and new collections of graptolites from the Hanover Formation in the Lachlan Fold Belt of central western NSW are documented. The Late Silurian Hanover Formation is shown to range from the spineus Biozone (late Ludlow) to the parultimus Biozone (Pridol ). A fauna containing Monograptus ludensis is recorded from the Barnby Hills Shale, which is now known to range from the ludensis Biozone (late Wenlock) to the inexspectatus or kozlowskii Biozone (late Ludlow). New dendroid graptolite taxa described here include Dendrograptus typhlops sp. nov. from the Barnby Hills Shale and Dictyonema …

A Practical Guide To Assessing Clinical Decision-Making Skills Using The Key Features Approach, Elizabeth Farmer, Gordon Page

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Aim  This paper in the series on professional assessment provides a practical guide to writing key features problems (KFPs). Key features problems test clinical decision-making skills in written or computer-based formats. They are based on the concept of critical steps or ‘key features’ in decision making and represent an advance on the older, less reliable patient management problem (PMP) formats.

Method  The practical steps in writing these problems are discussed and illustrated by examples. Steps include assembling problem-writing groups, selecting a suitable clinical scenario or problem and defining its key features, writing the questions, selecting question response formats, preparing scoring …

Promoting The Students Practicum: A Cd Rom For Nursing Preceptors, Kerry Reid-Searl, Lorna Moxham

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Students who undertake a degree that leads to a professional qualification, such as nursing, are often required to undertake a practical component in their course of study. This frequently involves the use of industry to support, mentor and assess student progress. Such a role is vitally important if the student is to achieve successful learning outcomes. In order to facilitate learning opportunities and evaluate student progress, the industry educators require knowledge to undertake the role with confidence and effectiveness. Using nursing as a case study, but acknowledging that this process is applicable to a variety of disciplines, this paper showcases …

Systemic Levels Of Interleukin-6 And Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 In Patients With Multiple Myeloma May Be Useful As Prognostic Indexes Of Bone Disease, Aikaterini Sfiridaki, Spyridon Miyakis, George Tsirakis, Athanasios Alegakis, Andreas M. Passam, Ermioni Kandidaki, Andrerw N. Margioris, Michael Alexandrakis

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Multiple myeloma is characterized by accelerated production of the proteolytic enzyme matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9. We hypothesized that myeloma- produced MMP-9 may influence the rate of bone turnover in a paracrine manner. Thus, we examined the correlations of MMP-9 levels, disease severity, and bone turnover rate as evaluated by markers of bone formation and resorption. Thirty-seven newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients (nine of Durie-Salmon stage I, 12 of stage II and 16 of stage III) and 12 age-matched controls were studied. Serum MMP-9 levels were significantly higher at stage II compared to stage I (188.78"91.27 vs. 59.25"33.09 ng/mL, p-0.004). Additionally, free …

Development And Validation Of Instruments Measuring Body Image And Body Weight Dissatisfaction In South African Mothers And Their Daughters, Zandile Mciza, Julia Goedecke, Nelia P. Steyn, Karen E. Charlton, Thandi Puoane, Shelly Meltzer, Naomi Levitt, Estelle V. Lambert

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objective We sought to validate questionnaires concerning body image perception, body size dissatisfaction and weight-related beliefs in multi-ethnic South African mothers and their daughters. Settings and subjects: Girls attending primary school (ages 9-12 years, n = 333) and their mothers (n = 204) were interviewed regarding their demographics and body image. Weight, height and skinfold thicknesses were measured. Body image questions and body mass index (BMI) were compared with silhouettes adapted from the Pathways Study for girls and Stunkard's body image figures for mothers. A Feel-Ideal Difference (FID) index score was created by subtracting the score of the silhouette selected …

Knowledge Of Iodine Nutrition In The South African Adult Population, Pieter Jooste, Nicola Upson, Karen E. Charlton

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Objectives To determine the level of knowledge regarding iodine nutrition and its relationship with socio-economic status in the South African population. Design A cross-sectional population survey collecting questionnaire information on knowledge of iodine nutrition and sociodemographic variables in a multistage, stratified, cluster study sample, representative of the adult South African population. Setting Home visits and personal interviews in the language of the respondent. Subjects Data were collected from one adult in each of the selected 2164 households, and the participation rate was 98%. Results Only 15.4% of respondents correctly identified iodised salt as the primary dietary source of iodine, 16.2% …