Habituation to pain : a motivational-ethological perspective

Habituation to pain is mainly studied using external pain stimuli in healthy volunteers, often to identify the underlying brain mechanisms, or to investigate problems in habituation in specific forms of pain (eg, migraine). Although these studies provide insight, they do not address one pertinent question: Why do we habituate to pain? Pain is a warning signal that urges us to react. Habituation to pain may thus be dysfunctional: It could make us unresponsive in situations where sensitivity and swift response to bodily damage are essential. Early theories of habituation were well aware of this argument. Sokolov argued that responding to pain should not decrease, but rather increase with repeated exposure, a phenomenon he called “sensitization.” His position makes intuitive sense: Why would individuals respond less to pain that inherently signals bodily harm? In this topical review, we address this question from a motivational ethological perspective. First, we describe some core characteristics of habituation. Second, we discuss theories that explain how and when habituation occurs. Third, we introduce a motivational-ethological perspective on habituation and explain why habituation occurs. Finally, we discuss how a focus on habituation to pain introduces important methodological, theoretical, and clinical implications, otherwise overlooked

Working together, driven apart: Reflecting on a joint endeavour to address sustainable development within a university

A holistic and transformational approach to Sustainable Development within a university requires systemic change and embraces new ways of working. Champions must challenge silo mentalities, develop new processes to encourage synergies across university functions, and strive to re-align systems and goals towards the common endeavour of sustainability. But how easy is this to achieve? It is well documented that working across disciplines presents challenges but forging a synergistic relationship between the environmental management function of Estates and an academic champion for ESD is not only logical but might be an easier place to explore how two roles can work together to achieve change. This paper provides a reflective account of such an alliance, outlining a joint endeavour to address sustainable development. An analysis is provided of those factors which impede such working and the different role tensions that make working together challenging. It will also consider the benefits of collaboration, as the perspectives from the operational and academic domains provide a broader context for understandings, access to different forums, an ability to tackle conflicting agendas together and an opportunity to genuinely effect change, providing mutual support through shared perseverance. The paper will conclude by questioning the extent to which progress made will endure, if the benefits of this synergy are not acknowledged by university leadership

State of the water sector report 2015

The Australian Water Association and Deloitte are pleased to present the State of the Water Sector Report 2015. The Report is the only one of its kind, reporting on the trends and insights of water sector professionals about their own industry. The survey results reveal attitudes and behaviours relating to a range of topics affecting the industry. This year marks the fifth year that the survey has been run and, as such, a summary of trends across the five years has been included in this year’s report. Trends observed over the last five years operational efficiency first emerged as an issue affecting the water sector in 2013, due to growing concerns about the need to control costs and demonstrate value for money, both within the sector itself and for customers. This rose to become the primary issue and area of concern in 2014 as operational costs continued to rise and new capital investment costs were being passed on to customers. In 2015 operational efficiency remains the second biggest issue for the industry, with efficiencies still to be gained through asset management, process improvement and works management and systems improvement. Skills shortages, and talent attraction and retention were of significant concern when the survey commenced five years ago, with the issue of ageing workforces in particular seen by many as a looming threat for the industry. However, in more recent years these concerns have almost halved due to a reduction in demand for additional staff and the greater availability of skilled labour, given construction activity in the mining industry has eased. Unconventional gas came onto the industry’s radar in 2012. last year, 70% of respondents stated that they believed unconventional gas had a significant to moderate effect on the overall management of ground- or surface water. In 2015, 55% of respondents stated that produced water from unconventional gas activities can be treated to a suitable quality for irrigation and other purposes, nevertheless highlighting some concerns in relation to the oil and gas sector impact. Although climate change was identified by 86% of respondents last year as posing a significant or moderate risk to sustainable management of water, sustainability is rated as less important than in previous years, with it being ranked as one of the top issues for the sector in 2011. This may be due to broader changes in community sentiment regarding environmental issues, and more benign weather conditions. While the sector believed security of supply was being managed well, climate change, as well as population growth, is viewed as one of the greatest challenges over the next five years. from a price and regulatory perspective, satisfaction with the role of economic regulators continues to increase slowly, and an increasing proportion of respondents support regulators making deterministic decisions on prices, rather than just monitoring prices. However, a price monitoring role is still favoured by more than three times as many respondents as deterministic pricing. 2015 Key issues The price of water and water regulation Water sector professionals’ perceptions of customer beliefs Sources of water Digital technology Asset management and operational efficiency -- State based reports are also available at AWA\u27s websit

Accounting academics’ perceptions of the effect of accreditation on UK accounting degrees

Students graduating from undergraduate accounting degree programmes in the UK are eligible for and attracted by accreditation available from professional accountancy body (PAB) examinations. The study reviews factual information available from PAB websites to confirm that virtually all accounting degrees in the UK have accreditation, and many are accredited with two or more PABs. By interviewing 18 accounting academics from a cross section of UK universities, this study verifies the factual information and confirms views expressed in the literature regarding the constraining nature of accreditation on UK accounting degrees. The interviewees confirmed that accreditation is seen as essential for student recruitment to degree programmes and that it leads to degree programmes imitating professional syllabi and examinations, resulting in technical content and didactic methods, which in turns crowds out broader educational activity. While providing a consistent structure and approach to university accounting education in the UK, the consensus view is that accreditation constrains degree programmes leading to a missed opportunity to provide a wider liberal education. It is also found that the legitimacy of awarding exemptions to students with less than good honours should be questioned

Effects of heat stress on reproduction and productivity of primiparous sows and their piglets' performance

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 23, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Drs. Matthew C. Lucy and Timothy J. Safranski.Vita.Includes bibliographical references.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Animal sciences.Heat stress (HS) produces seasonal infertility in sows and decreases reproductive efficiency. Sows were exposed to HS during a production cycle (gestation [gest], lactation [lact], and breeding) to examine productivity. First parity Landrace/Large White F1 sows rotated through chambers in the Brody Environmental Center for 55 d. The ambient temperature sequences included thermoneutral (TN; 18 to 20°C) or HS (24 to 30°C) for each production phase (TN-TN-TN [n=15], TN-HS-TN [n=14], HS-TN-HS [n=14] or HS-HS-HS [n=15] for gest-lact-breeding [20, 24, and 11 d, respectively]). Thermal responses, body weight (BW), backfat (BF), loin eye area (LEA), feed intake (FI), metabolites, energy balance, piglet weights, and reproductive performance were measured. Rectal temperature differed (38.33 and 38.22, 39.47 and 39.22, 38.79 and 38.74°C (SEM [lesser than] 0.05) for HS and TN during gest, lact, and breeding, respectively; P [lesser than] 0.001). During lact TN sows had greater daily FI than HS sows (3.75 vs. 3.12 kg; P [lesser than] 0.001). Total born (11.7 pigs), piglet birth weight (1.46 kg) and total weaned (10.3 pigs) were similar, but weaning weight was greater for TN sows (6.21 vs. 5.76 kg; P [lesser than] 0.053). Weaning to estrus interval (4.70 d), percentage inseminated sows after weaning (85.7%), subsequent farrowing rate (82.6%) and subsequent total born (10.8 pigs per litter) were not different by treatment. In summary, HS decreased FI during lact and was associated with reduced piglet growth. Breeding performance was not compromised by HS. To conclude, HS slowed piglet growth perhaps through its effects on sow milk production without affecting sow breeding performance

A Scientist's Guide to Achieving Broader Impacts through K-12 STEM Collaboration.

The National Science Foundation and other funding agencies are increasingly requiring broader impacts in grant applications to encourage US scientists to contribute to science education and society. Concurrently, national science education standards are using more inquiry-based learning (IBL) to increase students' capacity for abstract, conceptual thinking applicable to real-world problems. Scientists are particularly well suited to engage in broader impacts via science inquiry outreach, because scientific research is inherently an inquiry-based process. We provide a practical guide to help scientists overcome obstacles that inhibit their engagement in K-12 IBL outreach and to attain the accrued benefits. Strategies to overcome these challenges include scaling outreach projects to the time available, building collaborations in which scientists' research overlaps with curriculum, employing backward planning to target specific learning objectives, encouraging scientists to share their passion, as well as their expertise with students, and transforming institutional incentives to support scientists engaging in educational outreach