Embedding academic skills development in course delivery

Innovative approaches need to be adopted to meet the challenge of ensuring that graduates at the end of their course of study are not only strong in their discipline, but also have the required generic skills to give them a good standing within their selected professions. This paper reports on a study that examined how well academic skills are embedded into the undergraduate Environmental Science curriculum at Deakin University in Australia. It reports on students’ self evaluation of their essay writing skills, and a case study that involves a discipline specialist working with an academic skills advisor to enhance student generic skills. It discusses the patchy nature of current implementation of programs for generic skill education.

Buddhism in Australia : an emerging field of study

In 2006, Paul D. Numrich (2008) posed the question of whether contemporary scholarship on North American Buddhism constituted a distinct "field of study" and identified several factors that defined both academic disciplines and fields. This paper applies Numrich's criteria to the study of Buddhism in Australia, in its multiple and diverse forms, suggesting that it is an emerging field of study. While there has been an increase in historical, anthropological, and sociological scholarship in recent years, a comprehensive analysis of Buddhism in Australia, and particularly its impact on Australian life and culture, is yet to be conducted. This paper argues that such a study is both timely and necessary, given that Buddhism is the second largest religion in Australia, and we appear to be entering an "Asian century."

The course of uveitis in pregnancy and postpartum

Aim
To examine the course of non-infectious uveitis during pregnancy.

Methods
This is a retrospective case series. The medical records of 47 subjects with a previous history of non-infectious uveitis pre-dating their pregnancy were reviewed. Uveitis activity during the periods 1 year before pregnancy, during pregnancy and 1 year postpartum, were recorded. Information on patient demographics, type of uveitis, medication use, sex of child and breastfeeding status were also collected. The main outcome measures were the events of flare-ups during the prepregnancy, pregnancy and postpartum periods.

Results
The rate of flare-up was 1.188 per person year prior to pregnancy, 0.540 per person year during pregnancy and 0.972 per person year in postpartum (p<0.001 for comparison between prepregnancy and pregnancy; p=0.009 for comparison between pregnancy and postpartum). Rates of flare-up only began to decrease in the second trimester. After delivery, rates of flare-up rebounded and within 6 months postpartum, flare-up rates were not significantly different from prepregnancy levels (p=0.306). Even so, 40% of subjects were found to have remained inactive within 1 year postpartum.

Conclusions
Uveitis activity decreased by mid-pregnancy, but returned to prepregnancy levels within 6 months postpartum. These findings may be used to adjust uveitis management during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Stable anode performance of an Sb–carbon nanocomposite in lithium-ion batteries and the effect of ball milling mode in the course of its preparation

Materials that alloy with lithium (Si, Ge, Sn, Sb, and P) are considered as alternatives to graphitic anodes in lithium-ion batteries. Their practical use is precluded by large volume changes (200–370%) during cycling. Embedding nanoparticles into carbon is being investigated as a way to tackle that, and ball milling is emerging as a technique to prepare nanocomposites with enhanced capacity and cyclic stability. Using Sb as a model system, we investigate the preparation of Sb–carbon nanocomposites using a reconfigurable ball mill. Four distinctive milling modes are compared. The structure of the composites varies depending on the mode. Frequent strong ball impacts are required for the optimal electrochemical performance of the nanocomposite. An outstanding stable capacity of 550 mA h g−1 for 250 cycles at a current rate of 230 mA g−1 is demonstrated in a thin electrode (1 mg cm−2) and a capacity of [similar]400 mA h g−1 can be retained at 1.15 A g−1. Some capacity fade is observed in a thicker electrode (2.5 mg cm−2), i.e. the performance is sensitive to mass loading. The electrochemical stability originates from the nanocomposite structure containing Sb nanoparticles (5–15 nm) dispersed in a carbon component.

Age at onset, course of illness and response to psychotherapy in bipolar disorder: Results from the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD)

Background. The course of bipolar disorder progressively worsens in some patients. Although responses to pharmacotherapy appear to diminish with greater chronicity, less is known about whether patients' prior courses of illness are related to responses to psychotherapy.

Latex dilution reaction during the tapping flow course of Hevea brasiliensis and the effect of Ethrel stimulation

The latex dilution reaction during the tapping flow course has been well documented and associated with the facilitation of tapping latex flow. However, its underlying mechanism has not experimentally examined. The latex total solid content, osmotic potential and phloem turgor pressure change during the tapping flow course were simultaneously measured to investigate the cause of water movement during the tapping flow course. It was found that there are three different stages for the laticifer water equilibrium during the tapping flow course. The tapping-induced rapid turgor pressure drop is the cause of the first stage water influx into laticifers, while osmoregulation prevails during water exchange in the second and third stages of tapping flow. Meanwhile, aquaporin expressions were, for the first time, investigated during the tapping flow course. The rapid transcript up-regulation of HbPIP1, HbPIP2;1 and HbPIP2;3 contributes to the latex dilution reaction. However, their activity gating cannot be ruled out. Ethrel stimulation can significantly dilute the corresponding latex fractions during the tapping flow course due to its up-regulations of HbPIP1, HbPIP2;1 and HbPIP2;3. Nevertheless, the latex dilution reaction pattern for the Ethrel treated trees did not change, except for a lower degree of dilution compared with the un-treated trees. All these results suggest that both phloem turgor pressure and aquaporins are involved in the latex dilution reaction during the tapping flow course.

Effects of study design and allocation on participant behaviour-ESDA: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: What study participants think about the nature of a study has been hypothesised to affect subsequent behaviour and to potentially bias study findings. In this trial we examine the impact of awareness of study design and allocation on participant drinking behaviour. METHODS/DESIGN: A three-arm parallel group randomised controlled trial design will be used. All recruitment, screening, randomisation, and follow-up will be conducted on-line among university students. Participants who indicate a hazardous level of alcohol consumption will be randomly assigned to one of three groups. Group A will be informed their drinking will be assessed at baseline and again in one month (as in a cohort study design). Group B will be told the study is an intervention trial and they are in the control group. Group C will be told the study is an intervention trial and they are in the intervention group. All will receive exactly the same brief educational material to read. After one month, alcohol intake for the past 4 weeks will be assessed. DISCUSSION: The experimental manipulations address subtle and previously unexplored ways in which participant behaviour may be unwittingly influenced by standard practice in trials. Given the necessity of relying on self-reported outcome, it will not be possible to distinguish true behaviour change from reporting artefact. This does not matter in the present study, as any effects of awareness of study design or allocation involve bias that is not well understood. There has been little research on awareness effects, and our outcomes will provide an indication of the possible value of further studies of this type and inform hypothesis generation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (ANZCTR): ACTRN12610000846022.

Doing the right thing at the right time: Assessing responses to patient deterioration in electronic simulation scenarios using course-of-action analysis

International studies indicate that the recognition and management of deteriorating patients in hospitals are poor and that patient assessment is often inadequate. Face-to-face simulation programs have been shown to have an impact on educational and clinical outcomes; however, little is known about performance in contemporary healthcare e-simulation approaches. Using data from an open-access Web-based patient deterioration program (FIRSTACTWeb), the performance of 367 Australian nursing students in identification of treatment priorities and clinical actions was analyzed using a military model of Course of Action Simulation Analysis. Participants' performance in the whole program demonstrated a significant improvement in knowledge and skills (P ≤ .001) with high levels of participant satisfaction. Course of Action Simulation Analysis modeling identified three key participant groupings within which only 18% took the "best course of action" (the right actions and timing), with most (70%) completing the right actions but in the wrong order. The remaining 12% produced incomplete assessments and actions in an incorrect sequence. Contemporary approaches such as e-simulation do enhance educational outcomes. Measurement of performance when combined with Course of Action Simulation Analysis becomes a useful tool in the description of outcomes, an understanding of decision making, and the prediction of future events.