A Dollar for Your Thoughts: Determining Whether Nominal Damages Prevent an Otherwise Moot Case from Being an Advisory Opinion

This Note examines whether nominal damages should sustain an otherwise moot constitutional claim. A majority of circuit courts have held that a lone claim for nominal damages is sufficient. A minority of circuit courts have determined that nominal damages are insufficient because there is no practical effect in determining such a case. The courts in the minority analogize nominal damages to declaratory judgments and justify their rulings on the basis of judicial economy. This Note proposes that the minority rule is impermissible under current precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court. However, this Note also proposes that the majority rule be adjusted slightly to address the concerns and criticisms of the minority rule. This Note argues that courts should scrutinize the lone claim for nominal damages and require that plaintiffs allege a specific incident of constitutional deprivation to ensure that there is an ongoing case and controversy. Finally, this Note suggests that the Supreme Court provide more guidance to federal courts on the doctrine of mootness

CELL REPLACEMENT THERAPY FOR PARKINSON’S DISEASE: The importance of neuronal subtype, cell source and connectivity for functional recovery

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterised by motor deficits such as slowness in movement, difficulty in initiating movement and tremor at rest. The cause of these motor symptoms is the selective loss of mesencephalic dopaminergic (mesDA) neurons, located in the substantia nigra (SN). These neurons project axons to the striatum where they release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that controls voluntary movement. Current drug treatments restore the lost dopamine, while initially efficacious, the beneficial effects wear off resulting in severe side effects. Thus, there is a clear requirement for alternative therapeutic options. One such idea is cell replacement therapy (CRT). CRT aims to replace neurons that have degenerated in PD, with donor cells that have the potential to functionally re-integrate into the host circuitry. This involves transplantation of developing midbrain cells from aborted fetuses, (the part that form mesDA neurons), into the striatum of a PD patient. Clinical trials have demonstrated that CRT can provide long-lasting, significant clinical benefit. Although some patients do not respond as favourably. We still do not know what specific factors contribute to the success in transplantation i.e. what cells are responsible for motor recovery? Can the transplants reform damaged neuronal circuitry? Use of human fetal tissue raises several ethical issues, but are there alternative cell sources that can substitute effectively? The aim of this thesis was to understand how particular factors such as neuronal content, placement and cell source, affect functional outcome after transplantation into the rodent brain. In paper №1, I detail the neurodegenerative and behavioural outcomes in a mouse lesion model of PD, which can be used as a platform for the development of novel therapeutic strategies. I also describe the development of a novel behavioural task that is predictive of mesDA neuron cell loss in mice. Previously, it was thought that transplanted neurons could not extend axons over long distances rendering transplantation into the SN a non-viable approach. In paper №2, I describe how mesDA neurons transplanted in the adult SN of a PD mouse model, extended axons across millimetres into the striatum, functionally reforming the nigrostriatal pathway. In paper №3, I also identify the specific mesDA population (A9) that is critical for functional recovery, with transplants that lack A9 neurons failing to improve motor recovery. A potentially pre-clinical aspect of this thesis is detailed in paper №4 where I describe a robust protocol for the generation of functional mesDA neurons from human embryonic stem cells that are functional in a rat model of PD. No evidence of tumour formation was observed in the transplanted animals, a major concern when utilising a pluripotent cell source. Through understanding functional recovery in terms of neuronal subtype and connectivity, the work presented in this thesis aims to bring the prospect of CRT closer to the clinic, I also describe the generation of a very promising alternative cell source that could rival fetal tissue. Together this work contributes to making CRT a reality for the treatment of PD

Using dendrochronology to create a timescale of succession on nurse logs in the Olympic temperate rainforest

Previous work on the Olympic peninsula in Washington State has shown that recently fallen trees provide a germination location for seeds that cannot do so on the forest floor due to thick moss mats. My field work over two summers dating and surveying nurse logs yielded a crossover at ~70 years where ground mosses start to dominate over tree mosses and seedling abundance begins to decrease

Pre-testing questionnaires: the New Zealand experience

Der Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über die Nutzung der "Statistics New Zealand" (SNZ) für Haushalts-, Unternehmens- und Wirtschaftsbefragungen. Es werden die unterschiedlichen Pretest-Methoden beschrieben, welche zur Bewertung der Fragen und Fragebögen eingesetzt werden, z.B. Begriffstest, kognitiver Test, Nutzbarkeitstest, Übersetzungstest und Felderprobung. Anhand von Beispielen wird gezeigt, wie diese Methoden in der Forschungspraxis zusammenwirken und einander ergänzen. (ICI

Screening for Perceived Stress in Upper and Lower Division Baccalaureate Nursing Students

To combat the nursing shortage and decrease attrition rates, a survey was developed to identify Senior and Sophomore nursing students’ perceived levels of stress. Enhancing awareness, identification, and discussion of students’ stressors can help shape the nursing program’s influence and reduce the risk for burnout and impaired resilience among students during their education

Land resources of the Bencubbin area

This survey of the Bencubbin area is part of the Agriculture Western Australia\u27s regional land resource mapping program, and covers approximately 1.5 million hectares in the Merredin, Trayning, Koorda, Mount Marshall, Mukinbudin, Westonia and Nungarin Shires of Western Australia. The climate is Mediterranean, with hot dry summers and cool winters. Land is used for winter cereal production and grazing, and about 60% is cropped each year. Wheat is the main crop and is grown in rotation with lupins, field peas, barley and medic pasture. This report provides primary and interpreted information on the character and capability of the land, for use at regional, catchment and farm levels. The five major outputs or datasets are: • a site database of soil and landforms • description of map units • description of soil series • a soil landscape map at a scale of 1:250,000 • interpretation of the data. The 1:250,000 scale map and 14 soil landscape map units at subsystem level indicate the landform pattern and enable prediction of soil property variation at a regional level. Land capability interpretations can be made for broad regional planning. For farm scale use, the survey identifies and describes 18 soil series. This provides a basis for more detailed mapping and land use interpretation. Soils are identified within a common framework throughout the region and this grouping will aid the extension of local experience and experimental research results

Competency-Based Assessment for Clinical Supervisors: Design-Based Research on a Web-Delivered Program

Background: Clinicians need to be supported by universities to use credible and defensible assessment practices during student placements. Web-based delivery of clinical education in student assessment offers professional development regardless of the geographical location of placement sites. Objective: This paper explores the potential for a video-based constructivist Web-based program to support site supervisors in their assessments of student dietitians during clinical placements. Methods: This project was undertaken as design-based research in two stages. Stage 1 describes the research consultation, development of the prototype, and formative feedback. In Stage 2, the program was pilot-tested and evaluated by a purposeful sample of nine clinical supervisors. Data generated as a result of user participation during the pilot test is reported. Users’ experiences with the program were also explored via interviews (six in a focus group and three individually). The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis conducted from a pedagogical perspective using van Manen’s highlighting approach. Results: This research succeeded in developing a Web-based program, “Feed our Future”, that increased supervisors’ confidence with their competency-based assessments of students on clinical placements. Three pedagogical themes emerged: constructivist design supports transformative Web-based learning; videos make abstract concepts tangible; and accessibility, usability, and pedagogy are interdependent. Conclusions: Web-based programs, such as Feed our Future, offer a viable means for universities to support clinical supervisors in their assessment practices during clinical placements. A design-based research approach offers a practical process for such Web-based tool development, highlighting pedagogical barriers for planning purposes.Full Tex