Low-power transistorized circuit provides staircase waveform

A low input power transistorized circuit is used to generate a staircase waveform of high step uniformity. Other characteristics are low step droop, fast transition time, and no feedback

Polygenic risk scores in imaging genetics: Usefulness and applications

Genetic factors account for up to 80% of the liability for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have successfully identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and genes associated with increased risk for both disorders. Single SNP analyses alone do not address the overall genomic or polygenic architecture of psychiatric disorders as the amount of phenotypic variation explained by each GWAS-supported SNP is small whereas the number of SNPs/regions underlying risk for illness is thought to be very large. The polygenic risk score models the aggregate effect of alleles associated with disease status present in each individual and allows us to utilise the power of large GWAS to be applied robustly in small samples. Here we make the case that risk prediction, intervention and personalised medicine can only benefit with the inclusion of polygenic risk scores in imaging genetics research

Bulletin No.1: Drug Policy - Mapping structures and enhancing processes

We understand very little about how research informs policy and how to improve that process, especially in highly politicised areas such as illicit drugs. One aim of DPMP is to significantly increase production of the highest quality evidence, which takes complexities and dynamic interactions into account. For this evidence to impact on Australian policy, we need to better understand how policy is made; the kinds of research that are most valued; and how research is best inserted into policy processes. Lack of appreciation of how policies are made is a major barrier to providing good decision support resources and processes. While we do not subscribe to a naïve view that research should be the only, or even the most important, factor in policy making, we are keen to see research assume its proper role and, within that, to be maximally effective. Surprisingly, there has been relatively little examination of what ‘evidence-informed’ policy is, in drugs, public health, criminal justice or more broadly. There has also been very limited research to shine a light on the collective experience of policy making in an attempt to learn from that experience, so that we may pursue it more wisely in the future

Monograph No. 4: Australian illicit drugs policy: Mapping structures and processes

This Monograph (No. 4) focuses on the policy making process. To achieve our overarching goal of improving illicit drugs policy activity in Australia, we need to improve the evidence base used by policy makers and to facilitate their use of it. Our limited understanding of how policies are made is one of the barriers to providing good decision support resources and processes. In this feasibility research, the ANU team trialed three approaches that are standard in political science but little used in illicit drugs research: 1) structural and institutional analysis; 2) reputational influence mapping; and 3) interviews with influential policy makers and researchers. Over the last two decades, a set of structures has been put in place at various levels with the explicit goal of facilitating policy activity on illicit drugs. The team identified over 100 organisations involved in creating Australian illicit drugs policy. The reputational influence mapping research explored methods for gaining a clearer understanding of which people are perceived to be the most influential in shaping policy on illicit drugs in Australia. The social network of people regarded as influential does not have a random topography. The interviews with senior policy makers revealed much about policy processes and the research-policy nexus. The insights from this research will lead to more detailed research on policy processes

Simultaneous interplanetary scintillation and Heliospheric Imager observations of a coronal mass ejection

We describe simultaneous Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) and STEREO Heliospheric Imager (HI) observations of a coronal mass ejection (CME) on 16 May 2007. Strong CME signatures were present throughout the IPS observation. The IPS raypath lay within the field-of-view of HI-1 on STEREO-A and comparison of the observations shows that the IPS measurements came from a region within a faint CME front observed by HI-1A. This front may represent the merging of two converging CMEs. Plane-of-sky velocity estimates based on time-height plots of the two converging CME structures were 325 kms?1 and 550 kms?1 for the leading and trailing fronts respectively. The plane-of-sky velocities determined from IPS ranged from 420 ± 10 kms?1 to 520 ± 20 kms?1. IPS results reveal the presence of micro-structure within the CME front which may represent interaction between the two separate CME events. This is the first time that it has been possible to interpret IPS observations of small-scale structure within an interplanetary CME in terms of the global structure of the event

Catalysis study for space shuttle vehicle thermal protection systems

Experimental results on the problem of reducing aerodynamic heating on space shuttle orbiter surfaces are presented. Data include: (1) development of a laboratory flow reactor technique for measuring gamma sub O and gamma sub N on candidate materials at surfaces, T sub w, in the nominal range 1000 to 2000, (2) measurements of gamma sub O and gamma sub N above 1000 K for both the glass coating of a reusable surface insulation material and the siliconized surface of a reinforced pyrolyzed plastic material, (3) measurement of the ablation behavior of the coated RPP material at T sub w is greater than or equal to 2150 K, (4) X-ray photoelectron spectral studies of the chemical constituents on these surfaces before and after dissociated gas exposure, (5) scanning electron micrograph examination of as-received and reacted specimens, and (6) development and exploitation of a method of predicting the aerodynamic heating consquences of these gamma sub O(T sub w) and gamma sub N(T sub w) measurements for critical locations on a radiation cooled orbiter vehicle

STEP WIDTH, GLUTEUS MEDIUS ACTIVATION AND POSTURAL SWAY RESPONSES TO A NOVEL GAIT TREATMENT: A PILOT STUDY

The current study explored the acute effect of a novel rehabilitative device (NewGait™) on several interrelated variables associated with gait. Participants completed an eight-minute walking treatment wearing the NewGait™. Postural sway (center of pressure velocity), step width, and gluteus medius (GM) muscle activity were measured before during and after the treatment. No significant changes were noted in step width or GM activity during the treatment. Step width narrowed significantly after the treatment (p=0.02) and postural sway improved in the eyes open condition (p=0.02). These results indicate gait changes in healthy participant’s following use of the NewGait™ device. However, due to the acute nature of this investigation, it is unclear if balance improvements noted are due to the walking activity alone or walking while wearing the NewGait™ device

Gamification in M.Pharm. teaching

Gamification is the use of game mechanics to promote engagement and enjoyment in a variety of tasks for the purposes of learning. This interactive and collaborative approach when applied to healthcare education improves student knowledge and understanding, and further develops communication and interpersonal skills in a range of settings. The benefits of these activities rely on well-designed games, based on the "laws of learning" and the "laws of good game design" Aims: The aim of this project was to enlist final year MPharm students to develop a pharmacy-based game that provide an interactive, peer led learning activity, to increase student engagement and attainment within key areas of the MPharm curriculum. Method: Final year students surveyed their peers (107 participants). This identified pharmaceutical/medicinal chemistry and pharmacokinetics as areas of difficulty, which guided the content, and design of the games. Game prototypes were developed and tested within the development group. Beta testing with small groups of students from final year was conducted (3 groups, 8 students per group). Feedback was collected from each test in the form of a group interview and individual questionnaire post-test to assess engagement and effectiveness. The final product of this process is the game Pharmopoly. Results: This project produced a versatile new game - "Pharmopoly" which fits in our integrated spiral curriculum. The game mechanics place particular emphasis on the chemistry and pharmacokinetic, providing a fun and novel way for students to engage with course content. Pharmopoly represents a versatile teaching tool, which can be used to target specific year groups and subjects through development of appropriate question banks while maintaining the game mechanics. Testing in larger teaching settings is planned for the coming academic year to allow a fuller assessment of the impact and effectiveness of game as a teaching tool. Conclusion: This game provides a fun and engaging teaching tool while supporting the achievement of key learning outcomes, as demonstrated through the positive student responses in our post-test evaluations. These results add further support to the growing body of literature that gamification can an effective tool in healthcare education

Pharmopoly : gamification in MPharm teaching

Gamification is the use of game mechanics to promote engagement and enjoyment in a variety of tasks for the purposes of learning. This interactive and collaborative approach when applied to healthcare education improves student knowledge and understanding, and further develops communication and interpersonal skills in a range of settings. The benefits of these activities rely on well-designed games, based on the "laws of learning" and the "laws of good game design" Aims: The aim of this project was to enlist final year MPharm students to develop a pharmacy-based game that provide an interactive, peer led learning activity, to increase student engagement and attainment within key areas of the MPharm curriculum. Method: Final year students surveyed their peers (107 participants). This identified pharmaceutical/medicinal chemistry and pharmacokinetics as areas of difficulty, which guided the content, and design of the games. Game prototypes were developed and tested within the development group. Beta testing with small groups of students from final year was conducted (3 groups, 8 students per group). Feedback was collected from each test in the form of a group interview and individual questionnaire post-test to assess engagement and effectiveness. The final product of this process is the game Pharmopoly. Results: This project produced a versatile new game - "Pharmopoly" which fits in our integrated spiral curriculum. The game mechanics place particular emphasis on the chemistry and pharmacokinetic, providing a fun and novel way for students to engage with course content. Pharmopoly represents a versatile teaching tool, which can be used to target specific year groups and subjects through development of appropriate question banks while maintaining the game mechanics. Testing in larger teaching settings is planned for the coming academic year to allow a fuller assessment of the impact and effectiveness of game as a teaching tool.   Conclusion: This game provides a fun and engaging teaching tool while supporting the achievement of key learning outcomes, as demonstrated through the positive student responses in our post-test evaluations. These results add further support to the growing body of literature that gamification can an effective tool in healthcare education

Classifying the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area for the classification phase of the representative areas program

This technical report outlines the methods that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority used to classify the biodiversity of the marine environs of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area for the Representative Areas Program. Classification was the first step in the multiphase Representative Areas Program that eventuated in a new network of no-take areas, free from extractive activities, in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park