Mapping men's anticipations and experiences in the reproductive realm: (in)fertility journeys.

This paper examines men's experiences of fertility/infertility against a backdrop of changing understandings of men's role in society and medical possibilities. It presents findings from two qualitative research projects on men's experiences of engagement with reproductive health services as they sought to become fathers and anticipate impending fatherhood. The findings from both projects provide insights into men's experiences of (in)fertility and their engagement with services set against cultural ideals of masculinity. Discussions of reproduction have historically focused most centrally upon women's bodies and maternal processes, leaving little space for consideration of men's experiences and perspectives. While women's experiences of infertility/fertility have been characterized in relation to productive or faulty biological processes, male infertility has been largely invisible and male fertility typically assumed. This context provides a difficult terrain for men in which to contemplate the potential of not being able to father a child. The findings discussed in this paper illuminate the ways in which men talk about and make sense of their reproductive journeys. In doing so, it challenges current understandings of masculinity and reproductive bodies and highlights the need to rethink how men are treated in reproductive spheres and how services to men are delivered

Antagonists of Ionotropic Receptors for the Inhibitory Neurotransmitter GABA: Therapeutic Indications

Agents that antagonize the action of GABA on ionotropic receptors are widely used to probe the function of this neurotransmitter. Three such agents are in common use: bicuculline, gabazine, and picrotoxinin. These three agents produce convulsions on systemic administration but act in significantly different ways. Bicuculline is a competitive antagonist of GABAA receptors. Gabazine is also a competitive antagonist of GABAA receptors, interacting with different residues on the receptors. Picrotoxinin is a noncompetitive antagonist acting on the chloride channel of GABAA and several other ionotropic CYS-loop receptors including glycine, GABAC, and 5-HT3 receptors. Many other structurally diverse agents are now known to act as GABA receptor antagonists, providing opportunities for the discovery of agents with selectivity for the myriad of ionotropic GABA receptors. TPMPA is a selective antagonist for GABAC receptors, which are insensitive to bicuculline. Like TPMPA, many antagonists of ionotropic GABA receptors are not convulsants, indicating that there is still much to be learnt about GABA function in the brain from the study of such agents and their possible therapeutic uses. The most recently discovered GABAA receptor nonconvulsive antagonist is S44819, which is subtype selective for α5-containing receptors, and is arousing much interest in relation to cognition

Flavonoid Actions on Receptors for the Inhibitory Neurotransmitter GABA

Flavonoids, both naturally occurring and synthetic, are known to have multiple effects on the activation of ionotropic receptors for γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in our brains. They can act as positive or negative allosteric modulators, enhancing or reducing the effect of GABA. They can elicit a direct activation of the receptors. They can also act to modulate the action of other modulators. This ability to influence function via their actions on GABA receptors permits a range of effects of flavonoids, including relief of anxiety, anticonvulsant, analgesic and sedative actions

Evaluating undergraduate, laboratory-based learning experience in pharmacology

The distinctive role of laboratory-based teaching in science education is well recognised but whether the expected benefits of this style of teaching on student learning is realised is dependent upon multiple factors. Learning is a complex process, affected by different styles of learning and the educational learning space in which it occurs. For laboratory work to enhance student learning, laboratory experience needs to be positive. To evaluate students’ experience of laboratory-based learning in an undergraduate pharmacology course, we have used survey instruments developed and supported by ASELL - Advancing Science by Enhancing Laboratory Learning (http://www.asell.org/) with a view to improving student learning outcomes. At the University of Sydney, pharmacology is taught primarily to students enrolled in either a Bachelor of Science (BSc) or Bachelor of Medical Science (BMedSci) degree program. The unit of study “Pharmacology: Drugs and People” (PCOL2012) is offered in 2nd year, 2nd semester. Face-to-face teaching consists of 26 lectures, six workshops and four laboratories (two wet-labs and two computer-based, dry-labs). In the present study, two survey instruments were used to evaluate students’ laboratory experience. The first, Laboratory Program Evaluation was used to evaluate the students’ overall experience of laboratory teaching within PCOL2012 and the second, Student Evaluation of an Experiment was used to evaluate students’ experience of a specific wet-lab experiment entitled: “The effects of drugs on peristalsis in the guinea-pig ileum in vitro”. This experiment illustrates how drugs can be used to unravel physiological mechanisms controlling gut movements. Students are required to do pre- and post-lab work (creating a flow chart of experimental procedures, experimental data analyses and report writing). The surveys consisted of 14 closed questions and five (survey one) or four (survey two) open-ended questions. In each survey, the final question was: “Overall, as a learning experience, I would rate the experiment/these labs as ....” For PCOL2012, only 37% of students rated the overall laboratory experience as good or better. In contrast, the experiment “Drugs and Peristalsis” was rated by 65% of students as good or better. In reviewing comments, one criticism noted about the second wet-lab in PCOL2012 (entitled “Cholinesterase and Inhibitors”) was the use of a semi-quantitative colormetric assay to determine the hydrolysis rate of substrates by acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase. To address this issue, we have revised the experiment for 2014. An ultra-fast, scanning absorbance microplate reader (SPECTROstar Nano, BMG LABTECH) will be used to measure, and display, the rate of hydrolysis in each of 48 wells. Additional changes will include holding the wet-lab in the recently opened “super-lab” (X-Lab, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney), with state-of-the art ICT support, and using LabTutor, ADInstruments (http://www.adinstruments.com/products/labtutor) for pre-lab work and to replace hard copy manuals. The revised wet-lab will be evaluated using the second of the ASELL survey instruments (see above). Details of ratings and comments will be reported in the presentation

Effect of GABA-Fortified Oolong Tea on Reducing Stress in a University Student Cohort

GABA-containing tea has gained popularity as an accessible intervention to reduce the impact of chronic stress-induced autonomic imbalance and increased risk for cardiovascular disease despite a lack of evidence concerning the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content in a cup of the tea and its effects on physiological and psychological stress as measures of cognitive function. We aimed to measure the effects of GABA-fortified tea consumption on heart rate variability (HRV) and stress in 30 participants using a pre-post cohort study design. Ten minute lead II ECG recordings were analyzed with Kubios software. Frequency domain parameters including total power, high and low frequency power, along with heart rate, were determined. A control group that consumed a non-fortified tea was included in the research. Statistical analysis was by two-way ANOVA for two-group comparison with time as an interaction and a significance level of p < 0.05. Oolong tea consumption led to a significant decrease in the immediate stress score and a significant improvement in HRV. We conclude that autonomic imbalance and HRV in people with acute stress is significantly reduced following a cup of GABA fortified oolong tea and highlights the complex interaction between autonomic nervous system function and mood

Evaluating the online teaching experience of University of Sydney staff from 2020-2021: What are the lessons learnt?

This study aimed to address the broad concern of how teaching staff in the higher education sector were impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020/2021. Importantly, we sought to extend this to consider how reflecting on these experiences has informed future practice or plans for innovation. Invited participants completed an online qualitative questionnaire composed of reflective questions. Respondents (14) included members of the research team from the Faculty of Science and Business School, The University of Sydney. Subsequent deductive thematic coding was undertaken with a focus to identify common experiences and challenges raised (Ryan & Bernard, 2003). In this presentation, we will give an overview of the key findings from this study including the challenges and lessons learnt. In this study there was a degree of concern raised about making the transition from face-to-face teaching to online teaching. This was primarily related to increased workload and lack of engagement with online teaching. However, as respondents went through the process of change, they reported feeling more positive and confident about their ability to use EdTech and make changes in a short space of time. The research has demonstrated a strong resilience of staff in adapting to unforeseen changes such as that experienced by all during the pandemic. REFERENCE Ryan, G. W. & Bernard, H. R. (2003). Techniques to identify themes. Field Methods, 15, 85-109

GABA-enriched Oolong Tea: Reducing Stress in a Student Cohort May Involve More than Just GABA

We have previously shown that the consumption of GABA-enriched oolong tea is effective in reducing stress in a student cohort. However, key constituent content has not been previously investigated, especially as applied to a standard cup of tea. Further, it has not been substantiated whether it is the suggested GABA content or other constituents that lead to these observed changes in stress behaviour. Using reverse-phase HPLC, we determined the actual content of four chemicals known to influence stress in 200 mL cups of regular or GABA-enriched oolong tea brewed to manufacturer’s instructions. We found eight times as much γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and 1.5 times as much caffeine in GABA-enriched oolong tea as in regular oolong tea. In contrast, there was 10 times less epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and half as much theanine in the GABA-enriched tea. Thus, there are changes in multiple constituents in GABA-enriched oolong tea that may contribute to the biological effects we observed in students consuming these teas

Defining and unpacking the core concepts of pharmacology education

Pharmacology education currently lacks a research-based consensus on which core concepts all graduates should know and understand, as well as a valid and reliable means to assess core conceptual learning. The Core Concepts in Pharmacology Expert Group (CC-PEG) from Australia and New Zealand recently identified a set of core concepts of pharmacology education as a first step toward developing a concept inventory—a valid and reliable tool to assess learner attainment of concepts. In the current study, CC-PEG used established methodologies to define each concept and then unpack its key components. Expert working groups of three to seven educators were formed to unpack concepts within specific conceptual groupings: what the body does to the drug (pharmacokinetics); what the drug does to the body (pharmacodynamics); and system integration and modification of drug–response. First, a one-sentence definition was developed for each core concept. Next, sub-concepts were established for each core concept. These twenty core concepts, along with their respective definitions and sub-concepts, can provide pharmacology educators with a resource to guide the development of new curricula and the evaluation of existing curricula. The unpacking and articulation of these core concepts will also inform the development of a pharmacology concept inventory. We anticipate that these resources will advance further collaboration across the international pharmacology education community to improve curricula, teaching, assessment, and learning.Marina Santiago, Elizabeth A. Davis, Tina Hinton, Thomas A. Angelo, Alison Shield, Anna-Marie Babey, Barbara Kemp-Harper, Gregg Maynard, Hesham S. Al-Sallami, Ian F. Musgrave, Lynette B. Fernandes, Suong N. T. Ngo, Arthur Christopoulos, Paul J. Whit

Defining and unpacking the core concepts of pharmacology : A global initiative

The authors acknowledge the contribution of the expert group members who contributed their expertise to the study and Professor Martin Kingsbury for his invaluable guidance on concept mapping.Peer reviewe

Participating in the Communication of Science: Identifying Relationships Between Laboratory Space Designs and Students’ Activities

Learning spaces can play a powerful role in shaping and supporting the activities of the students and teachers who use them: they can be agents for change when the success of new pedagogical approaches depends on shifting entrenched practices. The laboratory is a key site for science education. It is here that discipline knowledge and generic competences are fused and honed, in the very act of ‘doing science’. This paper focuses on communication of science. It looks at how students learn to participate in science communication, and acquire both scientific and more generic communication skills, while engaged in laboratory-based activities. This paper reports some findings of ethnographic research that involved observing student activity in laboratories. This opportunity to examine differences in patterns of communicative activity arose from a relocation to new purpose-designed laboratory spaces. Ethnographic research is appropriate for gathering data about space usage. It helps trace relations between student activity, characteristics of the spaces in which the activity is unfolding, the social organisation of the work being done, and the disciplinary practices that underpin the tasks that students are set. Our research identifies the importance of sightlines, communication tools and instructor behaviours in promoting students’ communicative activity. Addendum: Figure 2 has been replaced to ensure ethics requirements are followed