A Comparative Accreditation Alignment Analysis of Civil Engineering and Construction Management Bachelor Degrees with the Skill Requirements for USAF Civil Engineer Officers

The United States Air Force Civil Engineer (CE) officer career field involves a host of duties and opportunities for technical competence and leadership excellence as the Air Force mission grows and personnel numbers shrink. Most CE officers spend their careers as a technical manager, performing a mixture of duties that require a wide variety of skills. Because of this, the use of engineering design skills have decreased and the use of project and construction management have increased. While the career field accepts a variety of architecture and engineering degrees for new accessions, technical management degrees like Construction Management have been denied. This study uses a Delphi study to rate a list of skills most needed by CE Company Grade Officers, and compares those skills with the accreditation outcomes for Civil Engineering and Construction Management undergraduate degrees. After 2 rounds of surveys, a list of 40 skills was used to compare the relative emphasis of the degrees. Construction Management was shown to emphasize higher rated skills. Civil Engineering still showed a high relation to the skills, but emphasized engineering design skills that were consistently rated lower by the Delphi panel. The research shows that accredited Construction Management display a better fit for CE officers and should not only be considered acceptable, but encouraged for new accessions

Improving the Implementation of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring

Introduction: Home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) has been shown to outperform traditional office readings in its association with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and ability to identify patients with white coat or masked hypertension. For these reasons, the 2017 ACC/AHA Guidelines included HBPM as part of its recommendations for hypertension management. Our project focused on improving the implementation of HBPM in an urban primary care practice with an end goal of increasing the number of patients that actively use home blood pressure cuffs and have access to them for future telemedicine visits. Methods: A patient outreach process to increase HBPM uptake and improve hypertension control was developed and evaluated using a remote PDSA cycle approach. Outreach candidates consisted of Jefferson Family Medicine Associates (JFMA) patients ages 16-85 with active hypertension diagnoses who were insured by Keystone First or Keystone VIP. Candidates received an automated blood pressure cuff that was able to transmit home readings to their electronic medical record (EMR) in real time. Outcome and process measures were calculated using demographic and blood pressure data stored in each patient’s EMR. Results: The first wave of outreach produced 54 patient recruits from 253 attempts (21.3%) with 24 patients being full participants, defined as reporting 10 or more HBPM readings. Patient recruits were predominantly black (79.6%), female (66.7%), and ages 45 – 64 (55.5%). Patient recruits aged 65 and older had the highest rate of full participation (83.3%) followed by ages 30 – 49 (63.2%), 50 – 64 (25.0%), and 16 – 29 (20.0%). Rates for non-participation, defined as no HBPM reading recorded, among men and women were 27.8% and 33.3%, respectively. Conclusion: Analysis of the first patient outreach PDSA cycle revealed differences in full-participation based on age and sex. Future PDSA cycles will focus on improving follow-up efforts with patient groups that have lower rates of full-participation. This project was limited to patients insured by Keystone First or Keystone VIP due to their eligibility for low-cost HBPM coverage

Aggression and violence in the emergency department: A qualitative study exploring the perspectives of frontline healthcare professionals

Background: Aggression and violence (AV) towards frontline healthcare professionals (FHPs) represent a rapidly increasing strain on hospitals, impacting clinician mental health and the provision of patient care. Little is known about the perceptions of healthcare professionals on current aggression management practices. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of FHPs on AV in hospital emergency departments (EDs). Methods: Eight semi-structured focus groups consisting of 6–10 participants from five hospital EDs were held. Participants included medical doctors, nurses, and work health safety staff. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed before undergoing thematic analysis. Findings: Four main themes were identified: (i) workplace AV in healthcare are increasing in frequency and difficulty to manage, (ii) local strategies in place to manage workplace AV are perceived to be insufficient, (iii) systemic issues exacerbate the consequences of workplace AV, and (iv) staff feel inadequately equipped to manage the impact of workplace AV on their own well-being. Discussion: There are substantial perceived barriers to the effective management of workplace aggressive and violent behaviour within Australian hospital EDs. Participants suggest perceived increases in the prevalence of aggressive incidents and systemic issues surrounding incident reporting and follow-up exacerbate existing deficiencies in workplace AV management. Conclusion: Further research into risk reduction strategies, investigation of targeted interventions to better prepare staff, and improved reporting processes and pathways are needed to mitigate fallout of workplace exposures to AV in the ED

Attention facilitates three-dimensional shape from shading

The visual system utilises several monocular cues to perceive the three-dimensional environment. One critical cue is shading, whereby the three-dimensional shape of an object can be inferred by shading patterns in a process termed “shape from shading”. Shape from shading has been considered an early and pre-attentive process, however recent evidence has suggested that there exists a later stage of processing for shape from shading that requires top-down attention. Here, we investigated this proposal using event-related potentials to record brain activity with great temporal resolution, whilst participants passively and actively viewed two-dimensional or three-dimensional shaded stimuli. We found an early stage of shape from shading around 150-200 milliseconds post stimulus onset that occurred during passive viewing, demonstrating processing for shape from shading without guided attention to the stimuli. Further, we found evidence for a right hemispheric lateralization of this early processing only during active viewing, suggesting that guided attention facilitated right hemispheric processing for shape from shading. Additionally, we found a later stage of processing for shape from shading around 290-350 milliseconds post stimulus onset that occurred only when attention was guided to the stimuli. Therefore, this indicates that guided attention is necessary for later-stage processing related to shape from shading. Finally, differences in processing between convex and concave three-dimensional shape were observed at both early and later stages of processing, highlighting differences in the processing of specific three-dimensional shapes. This research presents evidence for two separate processes involved in three-dimensional shape from shading. Moreover, it suggests that guided attention facilitates early processing for shape from shading but is necessary for later-stage processing related to three-dimensional perception

Immersive virtual reality aggression and violence management education for nursing students: A pre-test, post-test, follow-up evaluation

Background: Nursing students attending clinical placement encounter similar exposure to aggression and violence as qualified clinicians. Universities encounter barriers in aggression and violence management education delivery due to resourcing and time requirements. Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) education may reduce barriers while maintaining comparable learning outcomes to face-to-face simulation-based education. Method: Nursing students (n = 72), recruited from one public university in Perth, Western Australia, completed a 15-20 minute IVR education program. Pre-, post-, and 4-month post-intervention questionnaires investigated self-reported confidence. Cross-sectional data were collected for system usability and motion sickness. Results: Significant differences in self-reported confidence were observed (p \u3c .001, partial η2 = 0.53), with large improvements from pre- to post-intervention (p \u3c .001, d = 1.21) and follow-up (p \u3c .001, d = 1.25). Cross-sectional data indicated the program is easy to use and incurs negligible motion sickness. Conclusion: IVR can deliver effective aggression and violence education for nursing students. The short duration, high usability, and persistence of confidence improvements over time indicate potential for IVR to support current nursing education practices

An Essential Mesenchymal Function for miR-143/145 in Intestinal Epithelial Regeneration

SummaryDownregulation of the miR-143/145 microRNA (miRNA) cluster has been repeatedly reported in colon cancer and other epithelial tumors. In addition, overexpression of these miRNAs inhibits tumorigenesis, leading to broad consensus that they function as cell-autonomous epithelial tumor suppressors. We generated mice with deletion of miR-143/145 to investigate the functions of these miRNAs in intestinal physiology and disease in vivo. Although intestinal development proceeded normally in the absence of these miRNAs, epithelial regeneration after injury was dramatically impaired. Surprisingly, we found that miR-143/145 are expressed and function exclusively within the mesenchymal compartment of intestine. Defective epithelial regeneration in miR-143/145-deficient mice resulted from the dysfunction of smooth muscle and myofibroblasts and was associated with derepression of the miR-143 target Igfbp5, which impaired IGF signaling after epithelial injury. These results provide important insights into the regulation of epithelial wound healing and argue against a cell-autonomous tumor suppressor role for miR-143/145 in colon cancer

Examining Temporal Sample Scale and Model Choice with Spatial Capture-Recapture Models in the Common Leopard \u3ci\u3ePanthera pardus\u3c/i\u3e

Many large carnivores occupy a wide geographic distribution, and face treats from habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, prey depletion, and human wildlife-conflicts. Conservation requires robust techniques for estimating population densities and trends, but the elusive nature and low densities of many large carnivores make them difficult to detect. Spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models provide a means for handling imperfect detectability, while linking population estimates to individual movement patterns to provide more accurate estimates than standard approaches. Within this framework, we investigate the effect of different sample interval lengths on density estimates, using simulations and a common leopard (Panthera pardus) model system. We apply Bayesian SCR methods to 89 simulated data sets and camera-trapping data from 22 leopards captured 82 times during winter 2010-2011 in Royal Manas National Park, Bhutan. We show that sample interval length from daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly periods did not appreciably affect median abundance or density, but did influence precision. We observed the largest gains in precision when moving from quarterly to shorter intervals. We therefore recommend daily sampling intervals for monitoring rare or elusive species where practicable, but note that monthly or quarterly sample periods can have similar informative value. We further develop a novel application of Bayes factors to select models where multiple ecological factors are integrated into density estimation. Our simulations demonstrate that these methods can help identify the true explanatory mechanisms underlying the data. Using this method, we found strong evidence for sex-specific movement distributions in leopards, suggesting that sexual patterns of space-use influence density. This model estimated a density of 10.0 leopards/100 km2 (95% credibility interval: 6.25-15.93), comparable to contemporary estimates in Asia. These SCR methods provide a guide to monitor and observe the effect of management interventions on leopards and other species of conservation interest

The role of top-down attention in shape from shading

The ability to perceive three-dimensional objects is a fundamental aspect of typical human vision, yet how the visual system utilises monocular cues to create three-dimensional objects from two-dimensional retinal input remains largely unexplored. We explore this question in the context of shape from shading, referring to the perception of a three-dimensional shape due to the shading pattern of an object. Shape from shading has previously been described as a pre-attentive process that occurs in parallel across the visual field. However, recent research has challenged this notion, suggesting that shape from shading involves two distinct processes. Specifically, an early stage that is responsible for object segregation from the background, operating in a pre-attentive manner, and a later stage which utilises top-down attention to identify three-dimensional shape. To investigate this proposal, we measure event-related potentials whilst participants passively or actively view three-dimensional or two-dimensional objects. It is predicted that passively viewing three-dimensional objects will significantly affect early event-related potentials (P1/N1) compared to passively viewing a two-dimensional control stimulus. In contrast, active, rather than passive viewing of three-dimensional objects, will significantly modulate later event-related potentials (P2/N2). Moreover, the difference in event-related potentials between passive and active viewing conditions will be greater for three-dimensional than two-dimensional objects, suggesting that the modulation of event-related potentials is due in part to three-dimensional processing, and not due to attentional effects alone. This study will aid in providing insight into the underlying cognitive processes that are required to perceive three-dimensional objects

Decontamination of Chicken Thigh Meat by Pulsed Ultraviolet Light

Foodborne illness outbreaks associated with chicken can be reduced with effective decontamination interventions. The effectiveness of pulsed ultraviolet (PUV) light for destruction of Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter on the surface of chicken thigh meat was investigated. Chicken thighs were inoculated to 6 to 7 log10 CFU/cm2 before exposure to PUV light for each of the above-mentioned pathogens. Treatment variables included the distance from the quartz window of the PUV light (8 and 13 cm) and treatment time (0, 5, 15, 30, and 45 s). Comparison of treated samples to control (0 s) samples allowed for quantification of microbial reduction due to PUV light treatment. Microbial reduction on lean surface chicken thighs (P < 0.05) with increasing duration of PUV light exposure for E. coli, Campylobacter, and Salmonella. Exposure to PUV light for 5 and 45 s on lean surface thighs resulted in log10 CFU/cm2 reductions of 1.22 and 2.02 for E. coli, 1.45 and 2.09 for Campylobacter, and 1.55 and 2.42 for Salmonella, respectively. Pulsed UV light exposure for 5 and 45 s on skin surface thighs resulted in log10 reductions of 1.19 and 1.96 for E. coli; 1.08 and 1.85 for Campylobacter, and 0.90 and 1.82 for Salmonella, respectively. Results indicate that PUV light is effective for reductions of bacterial populations on the surface of raw chicken meat

Combining and Decoupling Rigid and Soft Grippers to Enhance Robotic Manipulation

For robot arms to perform everyday tasks in unstructured environments, these robots must be able to manipulate a diverse range of objects. Today's robots often grasp objects with either soft grippers or rigid end-effectors. However, purely rigid or purely soft grippers have fundamental limitations: soft grippers struggle with irregular, heavy objects, while rigid grippers often cannot grasp small, numerous items. In this paper we therefore introduce RISOs, a mechanics and controls approach for unifying traditional RIgid end-effectors with a novel class of SOft adhesives. When grasping an object, RISOs can use either the rigid end-effector (pinching the item between non-deformable fingers) and/or the soft materials (attaching and releasing items with switchable adhesives). This enhances manipulation capabilities by combining and decoupling rigid and soft mechanisms. With RISOs robots can perform grasps along a spectrum from fully rigid, to fully soft, to rigid-soft, enabling real time object manipulation across a 1 million times range in weight (from 2 mg to 2 kg). To develop RISOs we first model and characterize the soft switchable adhesives. We then mount sheets of these soft adhesives on the surfaces of rigid end-effectors, and develop control strategies that make it easier for robot arms and human operators to utilize RISOs. The resulting RISO grippers were able to pick-up, carry, and release a larger set of objects than existing grippers, and participants also preferred using RISO. Overall, our experimental and user study results suggest that RISOs provide an exceptional gripper range in both capacity and object diversity. See videos of our user studies here: https://youtu.be/du085R0gPF