Development of a Nursing Informatics Competency Assessment Tool (NICAT)

Nursing workforce competency in informatics is crucial to providing safe patient care, improving quality, and reducing healthcare costs. Assurance of informatics competency in a workforce with increasingly diverse educational preparations, demographics, and informatics skills poses significant challenges. The question addressed was the lack of nursing informatics competency assessment tool relevant to bedside nursing. The purpose of this project was to develop and review a new nursing informatics competency assessment tool designed to address the individual educational needs of newly hired nurses. The tool was designed to measure nurses\u27 competency in computer literacy, informatics literacy, and informatics management skills recommended in the American Nurses Association\u27s Standards and Scope of Practice and Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform. This tool supports practices at the bedside by providing individualized education according to the results of a self-assessment. The project was guided by the Benner\u27s model and the Rosswurm and Larrabee framework. Content validity was established by item analysis, relevancy scale, and validation by the identified experts from the organization\u27s Nursing Informatics Department (n = 4); the Department of Education, Practice, and Research (n =8); the Clinical Outcomes Department (n = 1); and bedside nurses (n = 14). The administration recommended this tool be incorporated into its strategic plan. This project promoted positive social change by developing a tool to assess informatics competencies in newly hired nurses and guide educators in developing future educational strategies. These efforts will assist in creating a workforce that is prepared to deliver healthcare safely, efficiently, and cost-effectively in the increasingly technology-savvy environment of U.S. healthcare in the 21st century

Determining target species for assessment in multispecies and multigear fisheries: insights from an expanded CMFRI-NMFDC database

This paper highlights the richness of information available in an expanded ICAR-CMFRI-NMFDC fish catch and effort database for the state of Kerala. Strengthening of the database by digitizing data in the old paper data sheets was done under a multi-national project, ICAR-CMFRI-CSIRO-LENFEST Ocean Programme. The high diversity of fished taxa was classified according to the periodicity of its occurrence over this long period. Guidelines for determining the number of species for which stock assessment is to be carried out in the context of a multigear and multispecies fisheries sector were derived. This national-level database will be of immense use to researchers and policy makers for preparing fisheries management plans for the sustainable harvest of marine fishery resources

Status of Indian marine fish stocks: modelling stock biomass dynamics in multigear fisheries

A biomass dynamics modelling study to derive biological reference points and management requirements of 223 commercially important fish stocks in different maritime states of India was conducted. Two decades (1997–2016) of fishery-related data on the harvest of resources by different types of fishing fleets formed the input. The multigear nature of the fishery situation was solved by introducing a gear standardization parameter into the biomass dynamics model. The relative positions of the fish stocks were depicted through Kobe plots generated for the ten maritime states/union territory, and the fish stocks were categorized, based on the status, into sustainable, overfished, recovering, and overfishing. The results indicate that 34.1% of the assessed fish stocks in the country are sustainable, 36.3% are overfished, 26.5% are recovering, and 3.1% are in the overfishing status. Regionally, the percentage of sustainable fish stocks were high along the southwest coast (51.6%), overfished stocks were high along the northwest coast (54.2%), and recovering fish stocks were high along the northeast coast (47.8%). The national mean B/BMSY was estimated as 0.86, which is a strong reason for strengthening fisheries management. Fishing fleets harvesting overfished stocks were examined for each maritime state, and recommendations regarding reduction in annual fishing hours are made

Relation between health literacy, self-care and adherence to treatment with oral anticoagulants in adults: a narrative systematic review.

Background Oral anticoagulants (OAC) are widely used in patients with cardiovascular diseases. However, for optimal OAC self-care patients must have skills, among which health literacy (HL) is highlighted. We aimed to describe the relation between HL and self-care in cardiovascular patients on OAC treatment. Methods Electronic searches were carried out in the PubMed, Scopus, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, SciELO, IME-Biomedicina, CUIDEN Plus and LILACS databases, limited to Spanish and English language and between January 2000-December 2016. Papers reported on adults older than 18 years, taking OAC by themselves for at least three months. PRISMA guidelines were used for paper selection. Results We identified 142 articles and finally included 10; almost all of them about warfarin. Our results suggest that in patients taking OAC treatments there is a positive relationship between HL and the level of knowledge. In addition, a small percentage of participants on the selected papers recognized the side effects and complications associated with OAC treatment. Lower HL level was associated with greater knowledge deficits and less adherence to treatment. Conclusion There is a paucity of research evaluating the effect of HL on diverse aspects of OAC treatments. There is a need to expand the evidence base regarding appropriate HL screening tools, determinants of adequate knowledge and optimal behaviours related to OAC self-management

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Microstructure and dry sliding wear resistance evaluation of plasma nitrided austenitic stainless steel type AISI 316LN against different sliders

In this work, Plasma Nitriding was carried out at a temperature of 570 degrees C on nuclear grade austenitic stainless steel type AISI 316 LN (316LN SS) in a gas mixture of 20% N-2-80% H-2 to improve the surface hardness and thereby sliding wear resistance. The Plasma Nitride (PN) treated surface has been characterized by Vickers microhardness measurements, Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) examination, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and sliding wear assessment. The average thickness of the PN layer was found to be 70 mu m. Microhardness measurements showed a significant increase in the hardness from 210 HV25g (unnitrided sample) to 1040 HV25g (Plasma Nitrided sample). The XRD reveals that PN layer consists of CrN, Fe4N and Fe3N phases along with austenite phase. The tribological parameters such as the friction coefficient and wear mechanism have been evaluated at ambient conditions for PN treated ring (PN ring) vs. ASTM A453 grade 660 pin (ASTM pin), PN ring vs. Nickel based alloy hard faced pin (Colmonoy pin), PN ring vs. 316LN SS pin and 316LN SS ring vs. 316LN SS pin. The wear tracks have been analyzed by SEM, Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX) and Optical Profilometry. The untreated 316LN SS ring vs. 316LN SS pin produced severe wear and was characterized by a combination of delamination and adhesion wear mechanism, whereas wear mechanism of the PN rings reveals mild abrasion and a transfer layer from pin materials. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Significance of nanoparticle radius on EMHD Casson blood-gold nanomaterial flow with non-uniform heat source and Arrhenius kinetics

For its biomedical applicability, the dynamics electro-magnetohydrodynamic flow of blood-gold nanomaterial over a nonlinearly stretching surface utilizing the Casson model has been numerically elucidated. The impact of second-order hydrodynamic-slip, gold nanoparticles of different inter-particle spacing and radius, and non-uniform heat source are also accounted. The incorporation of nanofluid characteristics in the traditional Casson model improves the applicability, practicality and realistic nature of the modeled flow problem. The present study finds its application in radiofrequency ablation, magnetic resonance imaging, cancer therapy, and targeted drug delivery. Apposite similarity variables are employed to transmute the modeled flow equations into a nonlinear system of first-order ODEs which are then resolved using the bvp5c scheme. It is observed that the intensification in space-dependent heat source, temperature-dependent heat source and heat of reaction ascend the thermal field. It is noted that per unit increase in the inter-particle spacing ascends the drag coefficient by 70.2431176% whereas the nanoparticle radius descends the drag coefficient by 42.2109338%. Further, the impact of heat of reaction (0.1 ≤ α≤ 0.9) , reaction rate (0.1 ≤ β≤ 0.9) , nanoparticle radius (0.5 ≤ Rnp≤ 2.5) , and inter-particle spacing (0.5 ≤ h≤ 2.5) on the mass transfer rate (ShxRex-1/2) has been scrutinized statistically using the five-level four-factor response surface optimized model. The mass transfer rate is maximum for larger values of inter-particle spacing and smaller values of reaction rate, heat of reaction and the radius of gold nanoparticles

A study of martensitic stainless steel AISI 420 modified using plasma nitriding

We studied martensitic stainless steel AISI 420, modified using glow discharge plasma nitriding. Microhardness measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) were used to investigate the surface microhardness, crystal structure, microstructure and chemical bonding in the modified surfaces. High surface microhardness (~1300 HV) over a case depth of about 60 microns is obtained. Glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) indicates the presence of a predominantly Fe3N phase with dispersed CrN within 2-5 microns on the surface. In addition, using Bragg-Brentano geometry, we measured the presence of a minor phase of Fe4N in the case depth. SEM confirms that the microstructure within 2-5 microns of the surface is different from that of the bulk. XPS shows nitride phase formation on the surface. AES measured over the cross-section of the case depth shows a direct relation of the increased surface microhardness to the high nitrogen content

Publisher Correction: Significance of nanoparticle radius on EMHD Casson blood-gold nanomaterial flow with non-uniform heat source and Arrhenius kinetics (Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, (2023), 148, 17, (8945-8968), 10.1007/s10973-023-12288-w)

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Corrosion resistance improvement of high carbon low alloy steel by plasma nitriding

The present study concerns improving the corrosion resistance of a low alloy-high carbon steel by plasma nitriding in pulsed direct current glow discharge mode at an applied voltage of 540-710 V with 3-6 A current in the temperature range 450-560°C for a time period of 1-5 h. The phases formed after nitriding is mostly γ'-Fe4N with a small volume fraction of ε-Fe3N/Fe2N. Nitride volume fraction increases with nitriding time and temperature. Corrosion study reveals that plasma nitriding significantly improves the corrosion resistance in terms of corrosion potential, corrosion current density and resistance to polarization. This improvement is attributed to both formation of solid solution and nitrides on the surface