Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (nibs)

Traditional chemotherapy involves cytotoxic agents that indiscriminately target all rapidly-dividing cells. This can lead to significant side effects as healthy cells are also targeted.

One device, two doses

Ms Breathless is a 59-year-old lady living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for several years now, and quit smoking over 20 years ago. She sometimes experiences symptoms of breathlessness, and an unrelenting productive cough, particularly when she comes in contact with dusty places, second-hand smoke, or when her allergies and hay fever play up. Apart from these triggers, her symptoms are well maintained with her inhalers glycopyrronium bromide (Seebri) and indacaterol (Onbrez), and she has been using them for about nine months. Ms Breathless is otherwise healthy, and not taking any other medicines.

Advanced practice: A survey of current perspectives of Australian pharmacists

Background An Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework for Australia (the ‘APPF’) was published in October 2012. Further to the release of the APPF, the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Framework Steering Committee planned to develop an advanced practice recognition model for Australian pharmacists. Aim To gauge the perspectives of the pharmacy profession relating to advanced practice, via an online survey, in order to inform the design of the model. Method A survey was developed and administered to Australian pharmacists through SurveyMonkey . The survey content was based on findings from a review of national and international initiatives for recognition of advanced practice in pharmacy and other health disciplines, including medicine and nursing. Results The results of the survey showed that a high proportion of respondents considered they were already working at, or working towards achieving, an advanced level of practice. The responses relating to the assessment methods showed a clear preference for ‘submission of a professional portfolio’. A ‘written examination’ had a low level of support and in relation to an ‘oral examination by a panel’ there was a marked preference for a panel of multidisciplinary health professionals over a panel of pharmacists. Conclusion The survey outcomes will inform the development of an advanced pharmacy practice recognition model for Australian pharmacists, particularly in relation to the assessment methods. Survey outcomes also demonstrated that there is scope to further enhance the application of the APPF in the development and recognition of advanced practitioners, and to build greater awareness of the breadth of competencies encompassed by ‘advanced practice’.

Metformin for the pain in your backside?

Pain is a sensation that most people feel at some time-be it when we accidently stub our toe, or burn our hand when reaching into the oven to pull out that souffle left baking for too long.

Raloxifene for improving attention and memory in schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia can affect people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviour, and it can be as if your brain was playing tricks on you.

Rituximab for chronic fatigue syndrome?

Most people complain about being tired and wish they could sleep in for a few more hours instead of going to work. However, 'being tired' has a whole different meaning for people living with chronic fatigue syndrome, which is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis.

“Come in and look around.” Professional development of student teachers through public pedagogy in a library exhibition

This paper describes a public pedagogy project embedded into "The Global Teacher", a subject within the Bachelor of Education program for student teachers at an Australian university. The subject provides a global perspective on socio-political issues that shape education. In 2013, The Global Teacher introduced an approach that asked student teachers to create a museum-style exhibition depicting six global education themes. This exhibition was displayed in the State Library and the public were invited to engage with the installations and the student teachers who created them. Our paper describes how the project was implemented by means of close collaboration between the QUT teacher educators, curators at the State Library of Queensland (SLQ), and student groups working on visually translating their understandings of global educational issues into a public exhibition. We discuss what was learned by our students and ourselves, as teacher educators, by engaging in this public pedagogy.

Should I stay or should I go?: Rural and remote students in first year university stem courses

Research on the achievement of rural and remote students in science and mathematics is located within a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian schools, and underrepresentation of rural students in higher education. International studies such as the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), have reported lower levels of mathematical and scientific literacy in Australian students from rural and remote schools (Thomson et al, 2011). The SiMERR national survey of science, mathematics and ICT education in rural and regional Australia (Lyons et al, 2006) identified factors affecting student achievement in rural and remote schools. Many of the issues faced by rural and remote students in their schools are likely to have implications on their university enrolments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. For example, rural and remote students are less likely to attend university in general than their city counterparts and higher university attrition rates have been reported for remote students nationally. This paper examines the responses of a sample of rural/remote Australian first year STEM students at Australian universities to two questions. These related to their intentions to complete the course; and whether -and if so, why- they had ever considered withdrawing from their course. Results indicated that rural students who were still in their course by the end of first year were no more or less likely to consider withdrawing than were their peers from more populous centres. However, almost 20% of the rural cohort had considered withdrawing at some stage in their course, and their explanations provide insights into the reasoning of those who may not persist with their courses at university. These results, in the context of the greater attrition rate of remote students from university, point to the need to identify factors that positively impact on rural and remote students’ interest and achievement in science and mathematics. It also highlights a need for future research into the particular issues remote students may face in deciding whether or not to do science at the two key transition points of senior school and university/TAFE studies, and whether or not to persist in their tertiary studies. This paper is positioned at the intersection of two problems in Australian education. The first is a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian universities. The second is persistent inequitable access to, and retention in, tertiary education for students from rural and remote areas. Despite considerable research attention to both of these areas over recent years these problems have thus far proved to be intractable. This paper therefore aims to briefly review the relevant Australian literature pertaining to these issues; that is, declining STEM enrolments, and the underrepresentation and retention of rural/remote students in higher education. Given the related problems in these two overlapping domains, we then explore the views of first year rural students enrolled in courses, in relation to their intentions of withdrawing (or not) and the associated reasons for their views.

Management of persistent pain in the older people

Persistent pain is a commonly experienced symptom. It affects 25% of community-dwelling older adults and up to 80% of nursing home residents, and can have a major impact on quality of life and functional capacity. Unfortunately pain in older patients is often undertreated and misunderstood. Assessment of pain type and severity is important. Most older people, even with moderately impaired cognition, are able to self-report pain. Validated assessment tools using non-verbal pain cues are available for people with more advanced cognitive impairment. Management of pain in older people can be challenging. Physiological changes may impact on pain perception and the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of medications. Older people are often more sensitive to the adverse effects of analgesic medications and are at risk of drug–drug interactions due to the presence of co-morbidities and polypharmacy. In general, analgesic medications should be commenced at low doses, titrated based on effect and tolerability, and regularly reviewed. Contemporary pain management often utilises multiple analgesics in lower doses to optimise efficacy and avoid dose-related toxicity. A bio-psycho-social approach to the management of persistent pain, utilising a multidisciplinary team and including non-drug strategies, may produce the best results. The goal of pain management is not always to eliminate pain, since this may not be attainable, but rather to enhance function and improve quality of life. This article discusses persistent non-cancer pain in older people, its assessment and management, and the risks and benefits of pharmacological treatment in this population.

A aula de educação musical : pedagogias diferentes conduzem a diferentes resultados na aprendizagem?

Sendo professor de Educação Musical no ensino básico, decidi realizar o presente trabalho com o objetivo de averiguar se, para o universo de alunos indicado, é mais vantajoso trabalhar a partir das propostas pedagógicas de Edwin Gordon, que se baseiam no conceito de audiação como forma de levar o aluno a compreender a música (audiação é a capacidade de ouvirmos e compreendermos sons que podem estar, ou não, fisicamente presentes), ou nos ensinamentos de Jos Wuytack, que defende a utilização de técnicas de imitação nas fases iniciais de ensino da música a jovens. Tendo esta investigação sido realizada ao longo de um semestre letivo, não seria adequado nem possível aplicar extensivamente todas as propostas dos pedagogos referidos. Como tal, os trabalhos aqui apresentados foram limitados aos conceitos que considerei mais adequados para o tempo e para os objetivos definidos para o nível de ensino aqui em estudo. Foram trabalhadas as audiações números um, dois e quatro, por um lado, e, por outro, as técnicas de imitação melódica e rítmica. Foi feita uma avaliação contínua da evolução de cada aluno, como forma de estabelecer um padrão de desenvolvimento que permitisse concluir qual das duas metodologias de ensino da música a jovens se revelou mais adequada na globalidade e qual a que produziu melhores resultados no que diz respeito à melhoria da afinação vocal, do conhecimento das notas musicais, do rigor rítmico e da dedilhação na flauta de bisel. Os resultados obtidos não nos permitiram retirar nenhuma conclusão definitiva.

Change and stasis in schoolmusic education in Victoria: the past informing the future

This article reviews the current state of music education in Victoria in terms of both past and present issues. It is argued that many of these issues are the result of change and stasis that have occurred over the past 150 years of school music in Victoria. The principal issues that confront the present generation of music educators and policy makers are the role and place of music in school education and the provision of music teachers for government schools. Both of these issues are discussed in terms of the historical development of music in Victorian schools and it is demonstrated that many of the problems associated with these issues are either cyclical in nature, or have been endemic and simply never adequately addressed. It is suggested that one of the principal challenges to be faced in the government school sector at present is to retain the integrity of music as a discrete subject area in face of the current trend towards a generically-based arts curriculum. There is often a tendency in education to adopt an overly critical and even pessimistic approach to what are perceived as long-standing and seemingly insolvable problems. However, a counter-balancing factor is the rich heritage of Victorian music education which provides the basis for a more optimistic outlook. An important aspect of this heritage is the example of many outstanding music educators in Victoria and elsewhere. It is argued that a knowledge of such past achievements as well as a fuller appreciation of the historical development of music education policies and practices should provide a more informed and rational basis from which to decide the future course of music education in Victoria.

Measuring refugee malnutrition in the under-fives: pitfalls in practice

This article reviews the merit of using the World Health Organization (WHO) / National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) references to evaluate the nutritional status of refugees and famine-affected populations and the implication of the findings for further development of Public Health Nutrition programs. Public health nutrition interventions, in order to change the nutritional status of refugees and famine affected-populations, need to be based on accurate and appropriate reference criteria in order to satisfy demands for cost-effectiveness and preserve the human right to adequate food. However, many are confused by the current practice of estimating malnutrition in complex emergencies and it appears that the use of WHO/NCHS references may not be appropriate for use under these conditions in particular, and in the third world in general. To verify this claim, we conducted a literature review. Factors to be reviewed were selected a priori. Computer-assisted searches for English-language publications in the MEDLINE database were conducted and references cited in related publications were reviewed. The literature was restricted to published papers from 1975 to 2000, which focused on malnutrition and its measurement. Findings from the literature review indicate that there is a need to develop more appropriate references that are reflective of the field of intervention. In the absence of more appropriate references, this paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of using these references and some policy recommendations.

Small firms as social formations : relationships as the unit of analysis for eBusiness adoption research

Existing research concerning the adoption of Electronic Business (eBusiness) by small firms has primarily investigated the factors influencing their adoption decisions, with firms being the unit of analysis. In addition, the research assumes that it is primarily small firm owners, employees, trading partners, eBusiness product/service providers, government and business networks which influence adoption. This paper argues that small firms can more accurately be characterised as social formations whereby family, friends and social networks most likely play a significant, often overlooked, role. On this basis the paper argues that future research should include relationships within and external to small firms as the unit of analysis, not just the firm. The paper concludes by examining whether the theories commonly used to explore small firm eBusiness adoption are suitable for relationship-based research.