A qualitative study exploring the effects of attending a community pain service choir on wellbeing in people who experience chronic pain

The choir has links to a multidisciplinary pain management service, which is informed by the ethos of solution-focused principles, specifically in identifying and drawing upon patients’ resources. Seven choir members participated in semi-structured interviews, grounded in lines of enquiry commonly used in SF practice. Thematic analysis of the data uncovered seven themes: Physical Improvements, Emotional Impact, Personal Growth, Interpersonal Processes, Relationship with the ‘Self’, Living Well with Pain and Sharing the Music and Spreading the Word. The choir enabled continued progress towards accomplishing key PMP aims: self-management, coping and living well with pain. Findings expanded upon existing findings relating to singing and wellbeing by highlighting the choir’s role in promoting resilience and acceptance of pain. Clinical implications are explored in relation to psychosocial dimensions of pain

Sub-10-nanometre metallic gaps for use in molecular electronics

This thesis presents the development of a selective-etch fabrication process to create sub-10 nanometre metallic gaps and the subsequent use of the gaps to study the electronics of nanocrystals and molecules. A complete picture of the success of the process required both examination by scanning electron microscopy as well as probing the current response to an applied bias at low temperature. The empty gaps were fully characterised before self-assembling 7 nm CdSe nanocrystals onto the metal with the help of linker molecules. The I-V characteristics of the empty gaps showed a reduction of the tunnelling barrier height from the expected value (~5.1 eV, the work function of Au) when the results were fitted to the Simmons tunnelling model for a metal-insulator-metal system. Results indicate that after the barrier height is surpassed, a transition from direct to field-effect (Fowler-Nordheim) tunnelling occurs. After CdSe assembly, the collected I-V characteristics of the system at 77 K showed varied results. Many devices displayed conductance peaks at low voltages comparable to the results of the shadow evaporation process for 4.2 nm nanocrystals (also documented in this thesis). Several devices revealed switching between multiples of fundamental curves, suggesting conduction through multiples of nanocrystals

Time allocations to job functions of school foodservice directors in Oregon

The increasing costs of labor and food accompanied by limited budgets are some of the problems facing the school foodservice director. A plausible solution for cost increases is more efficient use of time. The purpose of this research is to develop a method to determine the time spent in common job functions by school foodservice directors with an outcome of providing an initial time data base for ultimate time and performance evaluations. A two part questionnaire of all sixty-eight school foodservice directors in Oregon was conducted to identify how time was allocated among job functions identified by the American School Food Service Association, 1978, and among routine office tasks. Part one: an estimation of time allocations per job functions and demographic information was requested. Part two: a time study in which the school foodservice director kept a record of activities for a five-day period. The response rate was fifty percent. Of the school foodservice directors surveyed, there were no significant differences in the estimated and actual amount of time spent in job functions for eighty percent of the sixty-one job functions surveyed. Of the twenty percent with significant differences, the majority were overestimates of time spent in job functions. Demographic variables correlating with significant differences in the estimated and actual time spent in job functions were: (1) education level, (2) number of years in the foodservice profession and (3) number of days of administrative assistance. The majority of school foodservice directors surveyed accurately plan their time to complete job functions

Arg615Cys Substitution in Pig Skeletal Ryanodine Receptors Increases Activation of Single Channels by a Segment of the Skeletal DHPR II-III Loop

AbstractThe effect of peptides, corresponding to sequences in the skeletal muscle dihydropyridine receptor II-III loop, on Ca2+ release from sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and on ryanodine receptor (RyR) calcium release channels have been compared in preparations from normal and malignant hyperthermia (MH)-susceptible pigs. Peptide A (Thr671-Leu690; 36μM) enhanced the rate of Ca2+ release from normal SR (SRN) and from SR of MH-susceptible muscle (SRMH) by 10±3.2 nmole/mg/min and 76±9.7 nmole/mg/min, respectively. Ca 2+ release from SRN or SRMH was not increased by control peptide NB (Gly689-Lys708). AS (scrambled A sequence; 36μM) did not alter Ca 2+ release from SRN, but increased release from SRMH by 29±4.9 nmoles/mg/min. RyR channels from MH-susceptible muscle (RyRMH) were up to about fourfold more strongly activated by peptide A (≥1 nM) than normal RyR channels (RyRN) at −40mV. Neither NB or AS activated RyRN. RyRMH showed an ∼1.8-fold increase in mean current with 30μM AS. Inhibition at +40mV was stronger in RyRMH and seen with peptide A (≥0.6μM) and AS (≥0.6μM), but not NB. These results show that the Arg615Cys substitution in RyRMH has multiple effects on RyRs. We speculate that enhanced DHPR activation of RyRs may contribute to increased Ca2+ release from SR in MH-susceptible muscle

A tale on using technology in a 3-phase approach to learning in the undergraduate laboratory

Problem At the University of Wollongong, Principles of Biochemistry (BIOL213) is a second year undergraduate (UG) subject taught to over 400 students from a variety of degree programs. Curriculum review of this subject recommended the redesign of the laboratory section of this subject to enhance the learning experience by supporting learning outcomes and to achieve deeper learning of challenging content. Additionally, due to increasing student numbers, efficiency’s in grading student work whilst providing constructive and timely feedback were needed. Action Plan To address this problem a 3-phase approach was undertaken utilizing technology in all phases. The phased approach is a blended learning environment in which phases 1 and 3 were completed online whilst phase 2 was conducted face-to-face in the laboratory. Phase 1 aimed: to provide an engaging online learning environment that would encourage students to learn independently and, to provide tools to help students feel better prepared and less overwhelmed for group activities encountered in class. The in-class activities were phase 2 and utilized an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN), whereby students conducted laboratory experiments generating data and forming conclusions whilst collaborating in groups. The in class reports were submitted and graded through the ELN in groups, fostering collaboration amongst students and creating efficiency’s in marking for large UG subjects. Phase 3 included post-laboratory online quizzes that the students completed through the subject Moodle site within 3 days of the completion of the laboratory class. The aim was to test understanding and longer term retention of knowledge, whilst contextualising student understanding using a different, but related, scenario. Results This session will present the triumphs and challenges of implementing this approach with some points to consider for those wanting to pursue similar initiatives. The effects on student learning and experience will be presented via the results from a student questionnaire and through comparison in assessment performance by student groups pre- and post-initiative