Closing the Gap between Research Evidence and Clinical Practice: Jordanian Nurses’ Perceived Barriers to Research Utilisation

Background: The nursing profession is a combination of theory and practical skill, and nurses are required to generate and develop knowledge through implementing research into clinical practice. Considerable number of barriers could hind implementing research findings into practice. Barriers to research utilisation are not identified in the Jordanian context. Aims and Objectives: To explore Jordanian nurses’ perception of the barriers to research utilisation in clinical practice. Design: A quantitative descriptive survey design was used. Methods: The sample consisted of 239 Jordanian nurses from one university hospital and three governmental hospitals. Nurses were conveniently recruited. Data was collection using the Barriers to Research utilisation questionnaire. Results: The majority of the participants were males (54%) and 53% of the participants were under the age of 30. The mean total score of barriers to research utilisation (BRU) was high at 2.97 (SD) out of 4 (the highest possible barriers score). The top three barriers were: “research results are not generalizable to their settings”, “lack of authority to change patient care procedures”, and “research articles are not published fast enough”. Conclusions: Barriers to research utilisation are high and were related to all aspects of research utilisation. These barriers need to be eliminated to improve the provided nursing care. To enhance research utilisation, a national-level guidance development system is needed. This will has the sole responsibility is to develop clinical guidelines, which are informed by the research, which practitioners and health services are then responsible for implementing into practice. Hence, hospital policies need to be reformed to address the procedure and activities of keeping the patients care up to date with current advances in healthcare disciplines. Keywords: Research utilisation, barriers, Jordan, Nurses, clinical practic

Cellulose microfibril orientation of Picea abies and its variability at the micron-level determined by Raman imaging

The functional characteristics of plant cell walls depend on the composition of the cell wall polymers, as well as on their highly ordered architecture at scales from a few nanometres to several microns. Raman spectra of wood acquired with linear polarized laser light include information about polymer composition as well as the alignment of cellulose microfibrils with respect to the fibre axis (microfibril angle). By changing the laser polarization direction in 3° steps, the dependency between cellulose and laser orientation direction was investigated. Orientation-dependent changes of band height ratios and spectra were described by quadratic linear regression and partial least square regressions, respectively. Using the models and regressions with high coefficients of determination (R2 > 0.99) microfibril orientation was predicted in the S1 and S2 layers distinguished by the Raman imaging approach in cross-sections of spruce normal, opposite, and compression wood. The determined microfibril angle (MFA) in the different S2 layers ranged from 0° to 49.9° and was in coincidence with X-ray diffraction determination. With the prerequisite of geometric sample and laser alignment, exact MFA prediction can complete the picture of the chemical cell wall design gained by the Raman imaging approach at the micron level in all plant tissues

Hydrous sludges, further characterizations and a model system. Project 2962, report two : a progress report to the National Council of the Paper Industry for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc.

"February 29, 1972.""The Institute of Paper Chemistry, S. C. Nagel ... Rajai H. Atalla ... John W. Swanson ...

Computer Numerical Control-PCB Drilling Machine with Efficient Path Planning – Case Study_2

In Printed Circuit Board (PCB) drilling machines, the location of the drill holes are fed into the machine and the PCB will be drilled at the corresponding coordinates. Some machines do not choose the optimal route when completing their tasks. Hence, this paper proposes an approach, which is based on the Algorithm Shortest Path Search Algorithm (SPSA), for finding the optimal route in PCB holes drilling process. In SPSA, when the robotic arm at the initial position, the algorithm calculates the nearest point to the initial position from all points that the wires starts or ends with. If the nearest point is a start-of-wire point, it will use SPS algorithm 1. If the nearest point is an end-of-wire point, it will use SPS algorithm 2. This process is repeated until drilling all the lines. Then, the robotic arm will drill all the holes according to the proposed Simulated Annealing Algorithm (AS) in order to determine the optimal machining parameters for milling operations. The results of the different optimization algorithms Genetic Algorithm (GA) and AS are compared and conclusions are presented. . The proposed Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine consists of driver, drill, three stepper motors, cables and microcontroller PIC16f877A to control the movement of the machine. The SPSA algorithm optimizes the use of the motors and other mechanical paths involved in the process while reducing total time taken to traverse all the drill holes. This paper also explains the detailed problem of interest and the mathematical formulation of the problem is defined. Experimental result indicates that the proposed SPSA-based approach is capable to efficiently find the optimal route for PCB holes drilling process

Structural Basis for Substrate Specificity in Human Monomeric Carbonyl Reductases

Carbonyl reduction constitutes a phase I reaction for many xenobiotics and is carried out in mammals mainly by members of two protein families, namely aldo-keto reductases and short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases. In addition to their capacity to reduce xenobiotics, several of the enzymes act on endogenous compounds such as steroids or eicosanoids. One of the major carbonyl reducing enzymes found in humans is carbonyl reductase 1 (CBR1) with a very broad substrate spectrum. A paralog, carbonyl reductase 3 (CBR3) has about 70% sequence identity and has not been sufficiently characterized to date. Screening of a focused xenobiotic compound library revealed that CBR3 has narrower substrate specificity and acts on several orthoquinones, as well as isatin or the anticancer drug oracin. To further investigate structure-activity relationships between these enzymes we crystallized CBR3, performed substrate docking, site-directed mutagenesis and compared its kinetic features to CBR1. Despite high sequence similarities, the active sites differ in shape and surface properties. The data reveal that the differences in substrate specificity are largely due to a short segment of a substrate binding loop comprising critical residues Trp229/Pro230, Ala235/Asp236 as well as part of the active site formed by Met141/Gln142 in CBR1 and CBR3, respectively. The data suggest a minor role in xenobiotic metabolism for CBR3. ENHANCED VERSION: This article can also be viewed as an enhanced version in which the text of the article is integrated with interactive 3D representations and animated transitions. Please note that a web plugin is required to access this enhanced functionality. Instructions for the installation and use of the web plugin are available in Text S1

«LIFE QUALITY» INDICATORS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC DERMATOSIS

The subject of the study – the analysis of «life quality» indicators in patients with chronic dermatosis. The purpose of a work is to compare «life quality» indicators in patients with rosacea and psoriasis with complicated and uncomplicated forms of the disease. The research is conducting with the WHOOOL-BREF Quiz – an analysis of four basic spheres, characterizing different aspects of life quality indicators of patients with rosacea and psoriasis testifies to reliable differences of the majority of scores in examined patients, comparing with average scores in «healthy people»; more pronounced differences were mentioned in complicated forms of these and others dermatosis.Keywords : rosacea, psoriasis, demodecosis, arthropathia, life quality.  Предмет исследования – анализ показателей качества жизни у больных хроническими дерматозами. Цель работы – сравнить показатели качества жизни больных розацеа и псориазом с осложненными и не осложненными формами течения заболевания. Проведение с помощью опросника ВОЗ (WHOOOL-BREF) – анализа 4 основных сфер, характеризующих различные аспекты качества жизни больных розацеа и псориазом свидетельствует о достоверных отличиях по большинству изученных показателей у обследованных больных по сравнению со среднестатистическими коэффициентами у «здоровых лиц»; более выраженные отличия наблюдались при осложненных формах этих и других дерматозов.Ключевые слова: розацеа, псориаз, демодекоз, артропатия, качество жизни

Network Alterations in Comorbid Chronic Pain and Opioid Addiction: An Exploratory Approach

The comorbidity of chronic pain and opioid addiction is a serious problem that has been growing with the practice of prescribing opioids for chronic pain. Neuroimaging research has shown that chronic pain and opioid dependence both affect brain structure and function, but this is the first study to evaluate the neurophysiological alterations in patients with comorbid chronic pain and addiction. Eighteen participants with chronic low back pain and opioid addiction were compared with eighteen age- and sex-matched healthy individuals in a pain-induction fMRI task. Unified structural equation modeling (SEM) with Lagrange multiplier (LM) testing yielded a network model of pain processing for patient and control groups based on 19 a priori defined regions. Tests of differences between groups on specific regression parameters were determined on a path-by-path basis using z-tests corrected for the number of comparisons. Patients with the chronic pain and addiction comorbidity had increased connection strengths; many of these connections were interhemispheric and spanned regions involved in sensory, affective, and cognitive processes. The affected regions included those that are commonly altered in chronic pain or addiction alone, indicating that this comorbidity manifests with neurological symptoms of both disorders. Understanding the neural mechanisms involved in the comorbidity is crucial to finding a comprehensive treatment, rather than treating the symptoms individually

Dramatic Shifts in Benthic Microbial Eukaryote Communities following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Benthic habitats harbour a significant (yet unexplored) diversity of microscopic eukaryote taxa, including metazoan phyla, protists, algae and fungi. These groups are thought to underpin ecosystem functioning across diverse marine environments. Coastal marine habitats in the Gulf of Mexico experienced visible, heavy impacts following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, yet our scant knowledge of prior eukaryotic biodiversity has precluded a thorough assessment of this disturbance. Using a marker gene and morphological approach, we present an intensive evaluation of microbial eukaryote communities prior to and following oiling around heavily impacted shorelines. Our results show significant changes in community structure, with pre-spill assemblages of diverse Metazoa giving way to dominant fungal communities in post-spill sediments. Post-spill fungal taxa exhibit low richness and are characterized by an abundance of known hydrocarbon-degrading genera, compared to prior communities that contained smaller and more diverse fungal assemblages. Comparative taxonomic data from nematodes further suggests drastic impacts; while pre-spill samples exhibit high richness and evenness of genera, post-spill communities contain mainly predatory and scavenger taxa alongside an abundance of juveniles. Based on this community analysis, our data suggest considerable (hidden) initial impacts across Gulf beaches may be ongoing, despite the disappearance of visible surface oil in the region