Applications of Prediction Approaches in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) collect data and continuously monitor ambient data such as temperature, humidity and light. The continuous data transmission of energy constrained sensor nodes is a challenge to the lifetime and performance of WSNs. The type of deployment environment is also and the network topology also contributes to the depletion of nodes which threatens the lifetime and the also the performance of the network. To overcome these challenges, a number of approaches have been proposed and implemented. Of these approaches are routing, clustering, prediction, and duty cycling. Prediction approaches may be used to schedule the sleep periods of nodes to improve the lifetime. The chapter discusses WSN deployment environment, energy conservation techniques, mobility in WSN, prediction approaches and their applications in scheduling the sleep/wake-up periods of sensor nodes

An exploratory analysis of the nurse dependency of patients with burn injuries using data collected in a national burn injury database

It has long been recognized that poor nurse staffing levels can have a detrimental effect on patient care and outcomes. Yet there is a lack of validated UK nurse dependency tools available to predict or support staffing levels and none specifically related to burn care. The international Burn Injury Database (iBID) has been collecting data on the nurse dependency of patients with a burn injury alongside information on their burn injury from specialised burn services in England and Wales. The aim of this research was to “explore the nurse dependency data contained within iBID; to gain an increased understanding of nurse dependency in relation to burn injuries and to assess if iBID contained information that could be used to predict nurse dependency of acute burn inpatients and help with nursing staff planning”. An observational exploratory study approach was undertaken. First, to ascertain whether the iBID nurse dependency tool measured nurse dependency it was compared to the Safer Nursing Care Tool (SNCT) tool, the most commonly used nurse dependency tool in the UK. Nurses in three burn services scored the nurse dependency of their burn-injured patients daily using both nurse dependency tools as well as fictional case studies to assess inter-rater reliability. The results were analysed using Spearman correlation and Krippendorff alpha. Secondly, the nurse dependency data from iBID was analysed. Multiple regression was used to build a predictive nurse dependency model and the nurse dependency trajectories were plotted to understand how staffing levels are influenced by the recovery pathway a patient may be on. This research has shown a correlation between the iBID nurse dependency tool and the SNCT scores suggesting that the iBID nurse dependency tool does indeed measure aspects of nurse dependency. There is a positive relationship between nursing dependency and burn severity. In particular, the size of the burn has been shown to have an influence on the nursing dependency trajectory over a patients’ stay. Moving forward this may be used to help predict nursing workload for a group of patients in advance and whether the individual patient’s stay is likely to be longer than 1 day/percentage burn. The regression modelling has highlighted several variables that have predictive properties. The variables that had some clinical judgement associated with them appear to be better predictors than pure objective variables, thus giving weight to the argument that ND tools should be used alongside professional judgement

Research Reports: 1983 NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program

Thirty-five technical reports contain results of investigations in information and electronic systems; materials and processing; systems dynamics; structures and propulsion; and space sciences. Ecology at KSC, satellite de-spin, and the X-ray source monitor were also studied

How is moral distress perceived and experienced in Northern Ghana? A study of neonatal intensive care and paediatric nurses

The experience of moral distress has been studied extensively in developed economies where it was originally conceptualized, however, there is a paucity of studies on moral distress in nurses in developing economies. The goal of this study was to understand the perception and experience of moral distress in nurses working in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and paediatric wards in Northern Ghana. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to collect data from 40 nurses and 14 nurse managers about their experience of moral distress and support measures nurse managers render to nurses who experience moral distress. Thematic analysis showed 7 themes: 1. nurses experienced morally distressing situations, 2. causes of morally distressing situations among nurses, 3. the impact of morally distressing situations on nurses, 4. coping mechanisms of nurses who experienced morally distressing situations, 5. recommendations by nurses to reduce the incidence of morally distressing situations, 6. inadequate support measures offered by nurse managers to address morally distressing situations in nurses and 7. moral distress experienced by nurse managers. The findings of the study were that Ghanaian nurses perceive and experience moral distress, that the contributing factors to moral distress are mainly organizational in origin, and that there are few support measures available to nurse managers to help nurses navigate morally distressing situations on the wards. The effects of moral distress were also highlighted in this study. Lessening the experience of moral distress is critical because of its detrimental effects on nurses and the health care system. Nurses and nurse managers who have been affected by moral distress may leave the nursing profession and this will ultimately add to the problem of a shortage of nurses and nurse managers in Ghana. In the light of these findings more resources are needed by healthcare institutions. Stakeholders in the Ghanaian health care industry should explore coping strategies for moral distress to retain nurses and nurse managers to ensure quality patient care