Description:
The initial impetus for this research was the discovery by the authors of a variety of common and consistent errors and misconceptions in pedagogical literature on the topic of thermodynamics in Biochemistry. A systematic survey was undertaken of material on thermodynamics in Biochemistry textbooks commonly used in Australian Universities over the period from the 1920s up to 2010. Four common areas of error and misconception were identified, and a number of factors associated with the initiation and propagation of troublesome pedagogical material through successive editions of Biochemistry textbooks were recognised. These factors included the introduction of multiple authors and also often the departure of the original author of a particular textbook. The very nature of Biochemistry as a rapidly expanding discipline leads to the constant introduction of new material in textbooks and the contraction of older material such as thermodynamics. Material is also often fragmented into a number of smaller sections in modern textbooks. Moreover, less development is likely to be applied to this older material, with considerable reuse of material from previous editions. The lessons learned from charting these particular errors in thermodynamics in Biochemistry textbooks may provide insight into how troublesome pedagogical material evolves in other disciplines.
Description:
The initial impetus for this research was the discovery by the authors of a variety of common and consistent errors and misconceptions in pedagogical literature on the topic of thermodynamics in Biochemistry. A systematic survey was undertaken of material on thermodynamics in Biochemistry textbooks commonly used in Australian Universities over the period from the 1920s up to 2010. Four common areas of error and misconception were identified, and a number of factors associated with the initiation and propagation of troublesome pedagogical material through successive editions of Biochemistry textbooks were recognised. These factors included the introduction of multiple authors and also often the departure of the original author of a particular textbook. The very nature of Biochemistry as a rapidly expanding discipline leads to the constant introduction of new material in textbooks and the contraction of older material such as thermodynamics. Material is also often fragmented into a number of smaller sections in modern textbooks. Moreover, less development is likely to be applied to this older material, with considerable reuse of material from previous editions. The lessons learned from charting these particular errors in thermodynamics in Biochemistry textbooks may provide insight into how troublesome pedagogical material evolves in other disciplines.
Description:
We evaluated the IP-Triple I immunochromatographic rapid test for the detection of rotavirus, norovirus and adenovirus using stool samples from children with diarrhoea. The detection of norovirus and adenovirus was poor compared to polymerase chain reaction assays. However, high sensitivity (92%) and specificity (99%) were obtained for the detection of rotavirus.
Description:
Science can be basic (or pure) and curiosity driven, or applied, in which new products or processes are developed or creative solutions to problems are sought. On the other hand, business primarily focuses on profit generation and growth. However, business itself is represented by both the service and manufacturing sectors. The benefits of science to the latter would be through the development of new products and improvement of their processes, whereas the former could also benefit from logical scientific thinking and investigation. Because small business often focuses on survival and does not have the resources to conduct the investigations required for an early response to new developments and market forces, its competitiveness can suffer. On the other hand, scientists are engrossed in their new discoveries and are usually not as adept at promoting these where they can do the most good. This chapter is a review of some historical, interspersed with current unpublished, examples of how the commercialization gap between science and business can be closed to the benefit of each. Opportunities for small and larger enterprises are described, primarily in the manufacturing sector, but benefits of science to members of the service sector that rely upon natural resources, such as drycleaners and forensic laboratories, will also be discussed. The strategies proposed highlight the importance of networking and facilitation by a ‘champion’ for the communication of innovations in a competitive environment, and the importance of marketing skills in an age of technological transparency, revolutionary advance in science, environmental sensitivity and dwindling resources. Examples range from the utilization or production of high-tech innovations to the implementation of the simplest measures for cutting costs and using resources more efficiently in small business. How the scientific/academic community can derive maximum benefits from collaborating with business is also discussed.
Description:
Aims: To evaluate the impact of Acute Deterioration Detection System (ADDS) charts introduced to a regional healthcare service. Background: To assist health professionals in identifying essential elements for recognizing patient clinical deterioration, a national initiative introduced track and trigger observation charts, to hospitals in Australia. This study investigated whether the introduction of ADDS charts had an impact on the number of Medical Emergency Team (MET) and Code Blue activations at one regional healthcare service, according to their incident recording database. Method: A retrospective study of all Code Blue and MET activations was undertaken at a regional hospital, pre and post the introduction of ADDS charts in a two year period, June 2012 to June 2014. Results: There was a significant increase in MET activations from 5.91 to 11.27 per 1000 admissions (p < 0.01) after the implementation of ADDS charts. There was also an unexplained non-significant increase from 0.50 to 0.88 per 1000 admissions in the activations of Code Blue during this period (p = 0.05). It was also found that ADDS charts did not overly influence the activation criteria for calling a MET/Code Blue, except for an increase in reports of high heart rate and a decrease in the use of the criteria ‘worried’. Conclusion: The introduction of ADDS charts has provided health professionals with a clear track and trigger set of criteria, improving the detection of early signs of deterioration in patients. This study demonstrated an increase in activations as a result of the introduction of ADDS charts in one regional healthcare service.
Description:
Little is known about why nurses escalate a Medical Emergency Team (MET) response based on ‘worried’ criteria or what clinical findings define a ‘worried’ MET call. Limited clarity exists in nursing literature regarding the clinical definition of ‘worried’ in medical emergencies. Commonly ‘worried’ terminology is associated with nursing intuition about a patient's condition before signs of decline in clinical condition. This research has identified the exact clinical cause of ‘worried’ escalations, with evidence to support that clinical reasoning and patient deterioration are the main cause of ‘worried’ activation. This research has also highlighted areas for further professional development to enhance levels of patient safety and quality care within a regional hospital setting.
Description:
Aims and objectives: The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of qualified nurses on the abilities of newly registered nursing graduates to perform a variety of clinical skills. Background: Evidence from the literature suggests that undergraduate nursing programmes do not adequately prepare nursing students to be practice-ready on completion of their nursing courses. Design: A descriptive quantitative design was used. Methods: Participants were recruited through the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Victorian branch. A brief explanation of the study and a link to the survey were promoted in their monthly e-newsletter. A total of 245 qualified nurses in the state of Victoria, Australia participated in this study. A survey tool of 51 clinical skills and open-ended questions was used, whereby participants were asked to rate new nursing graduates' abilities using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: Overall participants rated new nursing graduates' abilities for undertaking clinical skills as good or very good in 35·3% of skills, 33·3% were rated as adequate and 31·4% rated as being performed poorly or very poorly. Of concern, essential clinical skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving, working independently and assessment procedures, were found to be poorly executed and affecting new registered nurses graduates' competence. Conclusion: The findings from this study can further serve as a reference for nursing education providers to enhance nursing curricula and work collaboratively with healthcare settings in preparing nurses to be competent, safe practitioners on completion of their studies. Relevance to clinical practice: Identifying key areas in which new nursing graduates are not yet competent means that educational providers and educators from healthcare settings can focus on these skills in better preparing our nurses to be work ready.
Description:
Widespread error exists in the ‘thermodynamics’ and/or ‘bioenergetics’ sections of most biochemical textbooks. Three typical examples are drawn from a premier pedagogical source and shown to encapsulate (1) confusion about entropy and reversibility, (2) confounding of coupled reactions with sequential reactions in misguided attempts to show how exergonic reactions might drive endergonic reactions, and (3) confusion about the proximity to equilibrium of living processes. A fresh approach is developed, based on the Second Law imperative that free energy be dissipated (identical to the requirement that entropy be created). This approach identifies a Probability Isotherm, being a probabilistic expression of the Second Law, relating molar free energy dissipation to the overall ratio of probability of forward reaction to backward reaction. By equating the Probability Isotherm to the Van’t Hoff Isotherm, the overall probability ratio may be decomposed into an intrinsic probability ratio (the equilibrium constant) and an extrinsic probability ratio (dependent on composition). The Probability Isotherm is manifest kinetically as the Rate Isotherm, also thermodynamically determined even for kinetically complex reactions. The concept of ‘bound energy’ is introduced to complement ‘free energy’ in reconciling the Second Law imperative for free energy dissipation with the First Law requirement for total energy conservation
Description:
Purpose The aim of this paper is to examine the academic performances of first-year accounting students using a discussion board. Design/methodology/approach The paper develops a model to determine the impact of discussion board usage on overall student performance. A number of variables are controlled for including academic aptitude, previous accounting experience, gender and student background. Included in the model are diagnostic information indicators of student use of the discussion board, obtained from the Web-based learning environment tracking reports. Findings The multiple regression analysis shows a positive benefit in terms of greater marks for students who post on the discussion board compared to those who do not post, even after controlling for academic ability. Research limitations/implications The improved knowledge construction gained by actively using discussion boards may be used by teaching staff to promote greater student acceptance and voluntary participation in discussion boards resulting in more interaction and possibly higher academic achievement. Originality/value While technology and WBLEs have been well accepted in accounting education, and are widely used (Watson et al., 2007), the introduction of discussion boards has resulted in a dearth of research on their use and effectiveness. In-depth accounting educational literature reviews (Apostolou et al., 2013, 2010; Watson et al., 2007; Watson et al., 2003; Rebele et al., 1998) have reported very few studies on discussion boards over three decades.
Description:
Birds can spread microorganisms through their movement; however, it is still not fully understood how wild birds acquire and disperse antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria. We sampled wild Australian birds from three geographically distinct locations for the presence of AMR strains of two clinically important species of bacteria, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. A total of 121 birds were sampled, representing 15 different species. Thirty E. coli and 54 Enterococcus isolates were tested for resistance to 12 and 8 different antibiotics, respectively. Resistance to at least one antibiotic was common, being detected in 96% of Enterococcus and 60% of E. coli isolates. The vancomycin-resistance genes vanA and vanD were detected in 22% of enterococci (13% vanA, 9% vanD), while 9% displayed phenotypic resistance with no associated gene. Wild birds are a carrier of AMR bacteria in Australia, and are capable of harbouring a more diverse range of vancomycin-resistance genes than is typically seen among Australian clinical isolates.
Description:
Birds can spread microorganisms through their movement; however, it is still not fully understood how wild birds acquire and disperse antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria. We sampled wild Australian birds from three geographically distinct locations for the presence of AMR strains of two clinically important species of bacteria, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. A total of 121 birds were sampled, representing 15 different species. Thirty E. coli and 54 Enterococcus isolates were tested for resistance to 12 and 8 different antibiotics, respectively. Resistance to at least one antibiotic was common, being detected in 96% of Enterococcus and 60% of E. coli isolates. The vancomycin-resistance genes vanA and vanD were detected in 22% of enterococci (13% vanA, 9% vanD), while 9% displayed phenotypic resistance with no associated gene. Wild birds are a carrier of AMR bacteria in Australia, and are capable of harbouring a more diverse range of vancomycin-resistance genes than is typically seen among Australian clinical isolates.
Description:
Background: Evidence from the literature and anecdotally from clinical settings suggests that newly graduated nurses are not fully prepared to be independent practitioners in healthcare settings. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this studywas to explore perceptions of qualified nurses in relation to the practice readiness of newly registered nursing graduates and determine whether these views differ according to specific demographic characteristics, clinical settings, and geographical locations. Design: A descriptive quantitative design was used. Methods: An online survey tool was used to assess how qualified nurses (n = 201) in Victoria, Australia, rated newly graduated nurses' abilities on 51 individual clinical skills/competencies in eight key skill areas. A composite score was calculated for each skill area and a comparative analysis was undertaken on the various cohorts of participants according to their demographic and clinical characteristics using one-way ANOVA and post hoc tests. Results: Newly graduated nurses were found to be lacking competence in two key skill areas and were rated as performing adequately in the remaining six skill areas assessed. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in performance were found according to the age of the nurse, number of years registered, the educational setting in which they undertook their nurse education, their role, and the clinical area inwhich theyworked. There were no significant differences according to whether the nurse worked in the private or public healthcare sector. Few differences were found between nurses working in a metropolitan vs. regional/rural healthcare setting. Conclusion: This is the first study to quantify the scale of this problem. Our findings serve as a reference for both nurse education providers and healthcare settings in better preparing nursing graduates to be competent, safe practitioners in all clinical areas.
Description:
Stool samples were collected from 148 healthy adults living a traditional subsistence lifestyle in Papua New Guinea and screened for enteric pathogens using real-time RT-PCR/PCR assays. Enteric pathogens were detected in a high proportion (41%) of individuals. Clear differences were observed in the detection of pathogens between highland and lowland communities. In particular, there was a marked difference in detection rates of norovirus GII (20% and 0%, respectively) and Shigella sp. (15% and 0%, respectively). Analysis of the relationship between enteric pathogen carriage and microbial community composition of participants, using box plots to compare specific normal flora population numbers, did not suggest that gut microbial composition was directly associated with pathogen carriage. This study suggests that enteric pathogens are common in healthy individuals in Papua New Guinean highland communities, presumably acting as a reservoir of infection and thus contributing to a high burden of gastrointestinal illnesses.
Description:
Stool samples were collected from 148 healthy adults living a traditional subsistence lifestyle in Papua New Guinea and screened for enteric pathogens using real-time RT-PCR/PCR assays. Enteric pathogens were detected in a high proportion (41%) of individuals. Clear differences were observed in the detection of pathogens between highland and lowland communities. In particular, there was a marked difference in detection rates of norovirus GII (20% and 0%, respectively) and Shigella sp. (15% and 0%, respectively). Analysis of the relationship between enteric pathogen carriage and microbial community composition of participants, using box plots to compare specific normal flora population numbers, did not suggest that gut microbial composition was directly associated with pathogen carriage. This study suggests that enteric pathogens are common in healthy individuals in Papua New Guinean highland communities, presumably acting as a reservoir of infection and thus contributing to a high burden of gastrointestinal illnesses.
Presence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Escherichia coli, Enterococcusspp. and Salmonellasp. in 12 species of Australian shorebirds and terns