Evaluation of the health careers in the Bush Health Careers Workshops 1994 - 2002

[Summary]: Seventy people from rural backgrounds, who as secondary school students had attended a Year 10 Health Careers Workshop between 1995 and 1999, were interviewed by telephone in 2004 to determine what impact the workshop attendance had on their course and career choices. Approximately one quarter of the participants had also attended a Year 12 workshop. Results from two written questionnaires administered in 2002 and 2005 and from the telephone interviews showed that workshop attendance consolidated career interest in the health industry. At the end of 2004 over 90% of respondents were either employed in the health industry or studying to do so. Students who applied to attend a Year 10 workshop had expressed interest at that time of pursuing a health professional career such as nursing, medicine or physiotherapy. The workshops provided exposure to the variety of additional health related disciplines and some students used this information to modify their course and career plans within the industry. Even those who did not subsequently enrol in a health related course recognised the value of the workshop program. In fact without a single exception interviewees found the workshops to be extremely rewarding. The vast majority indicated that attendance had a major impact on their course and career decisions. A significant number of workshop participants have subsequently guided others in their course choice and career decisions. The majority of the participants who had left their rural communities to complete tertiary education will provide rural and regional health care as they have either returned and are working in rural or regional areas or intend doing so in the future. As a result of the selection process for workshop attendance, the study could not demonstrate definitively that the Health Careers Workshops Program contributed to the recruitment of health professionals. However, it has shown that the Program contributed significantly not only to the retention of those interested in the health industry but to the return of trained health professionals to rural and regional areas. The benefit to the health industry from these workshops has been substantial in relation to the small amount of funds invested

H NMR Studies of Eukaryotic Cytochrome c

H NMR resonance assignments in the spectra of horse, tuna, Neurmpora crassa and Candida krusei cyto-chromes c are described. Assignments have been made using NMR double-resonance techniques in conjunction with electron-exchange experiments, spectral comparison of related proteins, and consideration of the X-ray structure of tuna cytochrome c. Resonances arising from 11 residues of horse cytochrome c have been assigned

Investigating the relationship between social cognition, neuropsychological function and post-traumatic stress disorder in acquired brain injury

Literature suggests that aspects of social cognition, as well as neuropsychological difficulties play a key role in the development and maintenance of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms in brain injury survivors. The present study aimed to explore the direct relationship between measures of neuropsychological function and social cognition, and psychological outcomes related to PTSD. A quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational design was employed, using correlational and multivariate regression methods of analysis. Forty-nine adult brain injury survivors were administered a range of measures of neuropsychological function (memory, executive function and attention); social cognition (Mentalization, emotion recognition, social judgment making and emotion-based decision-making) and Psychological outcomes related to PTSD (depression, anxiety, anger and PTSD symptoms). Significant relationships were found between measures of Mentalization, attention and memory, and symptoms relating to depression and PTSD. Selective visual attention and Mentalization were found to account for 37% of the relevant variance for depressive symptoms, while Mentalization and delayed memory recall accounted for 24% of the relevant variance for PTSD symptoms. Different measures of Mentalization showed unexpected correlation directions, which had significant implications for the role Mentalization might play in maintaining PTSD symptoms. The findings suggest an association between aspects of social cognition and neuropsychological functioning, and psychological outcomes related to PTSD. It is thought that impairments in these areas could play a role in maintaining these outcomes in Acquired Brain Injury survivors

Evaluation of the role of the breast care nurse at Toowoomba Base Hospital

[Executive Summary]: The Supporting Rural Women with Breast Cancer Project started in Toowoomba in January 2005 with a Breast Care Nurse in a full time position in July 2005. The aim of the project is to develop and implement a revised multidisciplinary model of care resulting in the reorganisation and enhanced coordination of breast care services provided by Toowoomba Health Service District. A key deliverable under the service agreement with the Australian Government is the implementation of an evaluation plan and the compilation of an evaluation report. A decision on continuation of project initiatives will be informed in part by the results of the evaluation reported herein which was conducted by the Centre for Rural and Remote Area Health (CRRAH) based at the University of Southern Queensland. Structured questionnaires were used for both patient and stakeholder feedback. Fifty-one former breast cancer patients were interviewed by telephone. Twenty questions polled patients’ views on their access to the Breast Care Nurse and the nurse’s role in coordinating care, referral to other health professionals, and in providing information and psychosocial, emotional and practical support. Stakeholders received the questionnaire through the Toowoomba Health Services internal email system and returned completed questionnaires by reply paid mail to CRRAH. The questions were designed to provide views on the support that the Breast Care Nurse had made to a multi disciplinary treatment regimen. Views on the reasons for success or failure of the programme were also elicited. Widespread knowledge of the Breast Care Nurse prior to breast cancer treatment was poor; patients were unaware of the Breast Care Nurse until their first contact with her which was usually at the Surgical Outpatients Clinic held at the BreastScreen Toowoomba Service. More information about the position and role could be made available through GPs. Results from the patients revealed enormous gratitude for the support that they received from the Breast Care Nurse. There was overwhelming agreement that the timing of contact, ease of accessibility, information provided and support offered was extremely valuable in making their treatment and recovery easier. The vast majority of participants would recommend to their friends that they should attend hospitals with a Breast Care Nurse. Similar sentiments about the value of the Breast Care Nurse were received from stakeholders who recognised the benefit of the position not only to patients but also to the multidisciplinary team members in terms of coordination and liaison. However stakeholders did believe that a multidisciplinary team approach had not yet been fully achieved. The importance of maintaining a full time position of Breast Care Nurse was noted by both patients and stakeholders as accessibility of the nurse to patients was a key feature of the success of the programme. The study was in agreement with several other Australian reports all of which have demonstrated the success of dedicated Breast Care Nurses. The recommendation from the evaluation team is that the position of a full time Breast Care Nurse should be maintained. The Breast Care Nurse model is one that could be used successfully to support other medical condition

The value of a breast care nurse in supporting rural and remote cancer patients in Queensland

The role of the Breast Care Nurse in Queensland's Supporting Rural Women with Breast Cancer Project was evaluated by mixed methodology. Through questionnaire and interview patients provided views about the nurse's role under categories of Awareness, Access, Coordination, Information and Psychosocial, Emotional and Practical support. Of the 51 participants 37 resided in rural and remote areas with 18 living between 100 and 500 miles from specialised breast care services. The BCN met with patients at their regular hospital visits and was available by telephone at any time. There was overwhelming agreement among the participants that the timing of contact, ease of accessibility, information provided and support offered were extremely valuable in making their treatment and recovery easier. The vast majority of participants would recommend hospitals with a BCN to their friends. Members of the multidisciplinary care team provided views on Awareness of the BCN, Influence on Care Management, Communication and Patient Outcomes. They recognised the benefits of the BCN to patients and to coordination and liaison of the team. The findings concur with unpublished Australian reports that demonstrate the success of dedicated Breast Care Nurses. The BCN model of care could be used successfully to support other medical conditions

Fate of global superconductivity in arrays of long SNS junctions

Normal-metal films overlaid with arrays of superconducting islands undergo Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) superconducting transitions at a temperature $T_{BKT}$. We present measurements of T$_{BKT}$ for arrays of mesoscopic Nb islands patterned on Au films for a range of island spacings $d$. We show that $T_{BKT} \sim 1/d^2$, and explain this dependence in terms of the quasiclassical prediction that the Thouless energy, rather than the superconducting gap, governs the inter-island coupling. We also find two deviations from the quasiclassical theory: (i) $T_{BKT}$ is sensitive to island height, because the islands are mesoscopic; and (ii) for widely spaced islands the transition appears to lead, not to a superconducting state, but to a finite-resistance "metallic" one.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Analysis of Compounded Pharmaceutical Products to Teach the Importance of Quality in an Applied Pharmaceutics Laboratory Course

Objective. To assess the effectiveness of a product-analysis laboratory exercise in teaching students the importance of quality in pharmaceutical compounding. Design. Second-year pharmacy students (N=77) participated in a pharmaceutical compounding laboratory exercise and subsequently analyzed their final product using ultraviolet (UV) spectrometry. Assessment. Reflection, survey instruments, and quiz questions were used to measure how well students understood the importance of quality in their compounded products. Product analysis showed that preparations compounded by students had an error range of 0.6% to 140%, with an average error of 23.7%. Students’ reflections cited common sources of error, including inaccurate weighing, contamination, and product loss during both the compounding procedure and preparation of the sample for analysis. Ninety percent of students agreed that the exercise improved their understanding of the importance of quality in compounded pharmaceutical products. Most students (85.7%) reported that this exercise inspired them to be more diligent in their preparation of compounded products in their future careers. Conclusion. Integrating an analytical assessment during a pharmaceutical compounding laboratory can enhance students’ understanding of quality of compounded pharmaceutical products. It can also provide students a chance to reflect on sources of error to improve their compounding technique in the future

Nations, Publics, and Political Cultures: Placing Habermas in the Nineteenth Century

Also CSST Working Paper #42.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/51184/1/417.pd