A Public Health Critical Race Praxis Approach to Anti-Racism in Nursing Academia

Structural racism persists through every level of society, from housing, economic participation, education, criminal justice, access to healthcare, to poor healthcare outcomes. A critical dimension of structural racism is the persistent normalization of negative racial attitudes towards people of color, a manifestation of which is negative and harmful racist stereotypes presented in media, literature, and outdated medical knowledge. Internalization of structural racism gives rise to implicit and explicit bias towards different racial groups which poses health risks to patients of color. Studies have shown that health disparities persist for people of color even when controlling for socioeconomic differences among races, highlighting the harm of racial bias. A survey of 15 cross-sectional studies found that most healthcare providers carry a negative implicit bias towards patients of color and a positive implicit bias towards White patients. These harmful negative racial attitudes exist in medical and nursing academia, and novel efforts to address implicit bias are ongoing. There exists a large knowledge gap between social determinants of health and structural racism. Implementing a case-study workshop to address implicit bias among nursing faculty and their curriculums are a low-cost and effective method to close this gap. The purpose of this project is to address implicit bias in nursing academia through a Public Health Critical Race Praxis framework as faculty are directly responsible for preparing nurses and clinicians of the future for a diverse patient population

Investigation of the trends of electricity demands in Jordan and its susceptibility to the ambient air temperature towards sustainable electricity generation

Background: Efficient production and reliable availability of electricity requires comprehensive understanding of load demand trends to plan and match production with consumption. Although electricity demand depends on a combination of cultural and economic conditions, weather conditions remain as the major driver. With increased capabilities of accurate predictions of weather, the importance of investigating and quantifying its impact on electricity demand becomes obvious. The electrical system in Jordan has been facing several challenges including the failure to respond to increased demands induced by extreme temperatures. This paper covers a clear gap in literature through presenting a detailed investigation of the electricity consumption trends and in identifying the susceptibility of these trends to weather. Methods: This study relies on the statistical processing and analysis, through modeling of hourly electricity demands in Jordan in the period of 10 years between 2007 and 2016. Actual weather data was used employing the degree-day approach. The monthly, daily, and hourly seasonal variation indices were determined. Optimally formulated piecewise functions were used to track the thermal comfort zone and rate of increase in electricity demand for temperatures beyond it for each year. Moreover, the elasticity of polynomial functions was adopted to identify saturation points to thermally map the electricity consumption. Results: The developed models successfully described the relationship between the daily electricity demand and the mean daily ambient temperature. The average comfort zone width was 4 °C and the average mean base temperature was 17.9 °C. The sensitivity of electricity demand to both high and low temperatures has increased on average, with 11% and 16.4% to hot and cold weather, respectively. Finally, the electricity demand in cooling was found to saturate at 32.9 °C, whereas it saturates for heating at 4.7 °C. Conclusions: The electricity demand in Jordan observes seasonal trends in a consistent and predictable manner. An optimally formulated piecewise function successfully tracked the thermal comfort zone and the rate of increase in electricity demand for temperatures beyond it for each year of the study period. Finally, saturation heating and cooling temperatures were acquired from the elasticity of the daily electricity demands modeled against daily HDD and CDD

Reflections of Nursing Students’ Perceptions Toward Factors Influencing Their Academic Performance

The students' academic performance is one of the most imperative component in all universities to make sure in delivering the best quality graduates who will set out to be extraordinary pioneer and employees who have a positive reflection on the nation's financial growth and social advancement of the national and international area. Thus, the current study aimed to describe nursing students' perceptions toward factors influencing academic performance. A quantitative descriptive-design was conducted with a convenience sample of 150 female nursing students in the third and fourth academic year, college of nursing, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh-Kingdom Saudi Arabia. A self-reporting questionnaire was used to collect the data from the respondents. The results of the study showed that the "learner – related" subscale on the success factor scale was rated as 1st rank. “Regular attendance at lecture” item was attained the highest M+SD score (3.95 + 0.22), with high influence (UI) on the academic performance of the respondents. Meanwhile, “Reading beyond prescribed material” item was obtained the lowest M+SD score (2.84 + 1.44) with low influence (LI). Similarly, on the failure factor scale, the "learner– related" subscale was taken 1st ranked. Moreover, "lack of attendance at lecture" item was occupied the highest M+SD score (3.73 + 0.443) as well as" lack of interest in the course" item was stated the lowest M+SD score (1.88 + 2.40). As a result of this study, " learner-related factor" was employed the first rank in both success and failure scales and most of the learner-related items have a greater impact on the students' academic performance. So, this study recommended to administrators, lecturers, academic advisors to carry out more studies on students' academic performance factors, with specific focus on the ways which provide the students with the important skills which help them to overcome and manage these factors which contributed to their academic performance negatively. Keywords: Reflections, Nursing Students' Perceptions, Academic Performance, Success, Failure, Influencing Factors

Separation of isomers using a differential mobility analyser (DMA) : Comparison of experimental vs modelled ion mobility

Mass spectrometry is uniquely suited to identify and quantify environmentally relevant molecules and molecular clusters. Mass spectrometry alone is, however, not able to distinguish between isomers. In this study, we demonstrate the use of both an experimental set-up using a differential mobility analyser, and computational ion mobility calculations for identification of isomers. In the experimental set-up, we combined electrospray ionisation with a differential mobility analyser time-of-flight mass spectrometer to separate environmentally relevant constitutional isomers, such as catechol, resorcinol and hydroquinone, and configurational isomers, such as cyclohexanediols and fatty acids (i.e., oleic and elaidic acids). Computational ion mobility predictions were obtained using the Ion Mobility Software (IMoS) program. We find that isomer separation can be achieved with the differential mobility analyser, while for catechol, resorcinol and hydroquinone, the computational predictions can reproduce the experimental order of the ion mobilities between the isomers, confirming the isomer identification. Our experimental set-up allows analysis both in the gas and liquid phase. The differential mobility analyser can, moreover, be combined with any mass spectrometry set-up, making it a versatile tool for the separation of isomers.Peer reviewe

A study on the fragmentation of sulfuric acid and dimethylamine clusters inside an atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight mass spectrometer

Sulfuric acid and dimethylamine vapours in the atmosphere can form molecular clusters, which participate in new particle formation events. In this work, we have produced, measured, and identified clusters of sulfuric acid and dimethylamine using an electrospray ionizer coupled with a planar-differential mobility analyser, connected to an atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ESI–DMA–APi-TOF MS). This set-up is suitable for evaluating the extent of fragmentation of the charged clusters inside the instrument. We evaluated the fragmentation of 11 negatively charged clusters both experimentally and using a statistical model based on quantum chemical data. The results allowed us to quantify the fragmentation of the studied clusters and to reconstruct the mass spectrum by removing the artifacts due to the fragmentation.Peer reviewe

Role of base strength, cluster structure and charge in sulfuric-acid-driven particle formation

In atmospheric sulfuric-acid-driven particle formation, bases are able to stabilize the initial molecular clusters and thus enhance particle formation. The enhancing potential of a stabilizing base is affected by different factors, such as the basicity and abundance. Here we use weak (ammonia), medium strong (dimethylamine) and very strong (guanidine) bases as representative atmospheric base compounds, and we systematically investigate their ability to stabilize sulfuric acid clusters. Using quantum chemistry, we study proton transfer as well as intermolecular interactions and symmetry in clusters, of which the former is directly related to the base strength and the latter to the structural effects. Based on the theoretical cluster stabilities and cluster population kinetics modeling, we provide molecular-level mechanisms of cluster growth and show that in electrically neutral particle formation, guanidine can dominate formation events even at relatively low concentrations. However, when ions are involved, charge effects can also stabilize small clusters for weaker bases. In this case the atmospheric abundance of the bases becomes more important, and thus ammonia is likely to play a key role. The theoretical findings are validated by cluster distribution experiments, as well as comparisons to previously reported particle formation rates, showing a good agreement.Peer reviewe

PAHs in Household Floor Dust Collected in Amman, Jordan

Peer reviewe

Users' satisfaction through better space management in higher education libraries: A case study of University of Malaya library in Malaysia / Mohammad Ahmad Alfaouri

This study aims to evaluate the implementation of interior space management and its impact on the users' satisfaction and energy usage at the University of Malaya in Malaysia. Determining the users' satisfaction with interior spaces within the Main Library was done by measuring satisfaction level regarding different spaces within the building, temperature, relative humidity (RH), light intensity, and arrangement of different facilities within the Main Library. Moreover, the study aims to find the impact of space management on energy efficiency term by measuring temperature, RH, and light intensity regarding different spaces, and how the interior space affects the energy usage. The literature review explained that in which spaces are formed and arranged affects working productivity and feeling of groups. Also, the literature review mentioned that one of main principles in managing interior space is the satisfaction and comfortable level of users and staff. In addition, moving toward green building and energy efficiency involves building structure, interior space, facades, and the amount of energy usage. A questionnaire survey was distributed to know the respondents' opinions on their satisfaction level on the variables regarding learning space and their perception on lighting and thermal comfort. Moreover, semi-structured interview was utilized to achieve the third and fourth objectives of the research. The interview was done with deputy chief library and development department within UM. The third measure used in this study was an empirical measurement of lighting, RH, and light intensity to compare the results with standards used to sit the actual amount. The study has shown an overall satisfaction level with various spaces within the Main Library. Furthermore, the research has likewise shown the main barriers in managing space concerning users' satisfaction and energy efficiency. There was a lack of regulations to monitor the use of space and do a proactive maintenance. The empirical measurement has presented a gap between the actual IEQ and the planned outputs regarding standards used. The study has demonstrated that the space management will defiantly affect users' satisfaction and energy efficiency