Playing the game: a grounded theory study of the integration of internationally qualified nurses in the Australian healthcare system

Background Twenty-nine per cent of registered nurses in Australia received their first nursing qualification in a country other than Australia. Therefore, understanding the process of successfully transitioning internationally qualified nurses into a foreign healthcare system is vital to ensure the provision of safe, quality nursing care for all Australians. Aim The aim of this study was to explore how internationally qualified registered nurses and Australian qualified registered nurses adapt to working together in the Australian healthcare system and develop a theory that explains this process. Research question What is the process by which internationally qualified registered nurses are integrated into the Australian healthcare system? Methodology Grounded theory methodology was used in this study. Concurrent data collection/generation and analysis of online survey data (n = 186) and individual participant interviews (n = 15) was undertaken. Storyline was used as a technique of advanced analysis to integrate and present the theory. Two focus groups (n = 9 and n = 7) were held to evaluate and validate the theory. Findings International and Australian nurses work together to enable the successful integration of international nurses into practice. Four phases underpin professional socialisation, enculturation and adaption to the cultural norms of the workplace: (i) joining the game: adapting to context—observing and learning the cultural norms; (ii) learning the game: becoming socialised—receiving support; (iii) playing by the rules: aligning scope— communicating for quality care; and (iv) the end game—integration. These phases interconnect to form the final theory of 'playing the game'—a grounded theory of the integration of international nurses in the Australian healthcare system. Discussion Nurse migration trends to Australia have seen an increase in international nurses from developing countries. Context of the work milieu as the dynamic playing field is instrumental in understanding how authentic leadership and positive work environments support integration processes. Consequences for unsuccessful integration are significant and result in: negative work environments; patient dissatisfaction; adverse events; damaged reputations of registered nurses, organisations and the profession; and loss of skilled and experienced registered nurses from the profession. Conclusion The findings of the research are significant for the nursing workforce in Australia in relation to the recruitment, retention and integration of experienced registered nurses. Promotion of cultural responsiveness education and integration strategies prevents the attrition of experienced registered nurses. Recommendations are made to inform policies and practices for sustaining a workforce that will provide quality nursing care for all Australian citizens, regardless of the place of origin of the nurse or where they obtained their initial nursing qualification

Information behaviors of users of Korean collections: how do they find needed information?

The Institute of International Education’s 2012 survey shows that Korean international students in the USA add up to 72, 295 students, including 21,260 graduate students (Institute of International Education, 2013). A survey from Modern Languages Association found that despite the decline of students taking language classes, the students taking Korean language courses has increased about 45% between 2009 and 2013 (Goldberg, Looney & Lusin, 2015). For university in the Midwest United States, hereafter UMUS, South Korea is the second largest sender of its students to this university, following China (International Student and Scholar Services, 2015). Many of these students’ research topics and extra-curricular activities revolve around diverse facets of Korea. The Korean language courses at UMUS follow the national trend, experiencing about 35% increase in its enrolled students past five years (Song, 2015). With the increase of interest in Korean culture and a large population of Korean students, the library’s Korean collection is bound to have an increased rate of circulations and programs geared towards this rising population. However, the use of library collections does not reflect the campus or higher education climate of increased interest in Korean studies and Korean language courses as stated above. This study will investigate the information behavior of students searching for Korean materials at UMUS. In examining students’ behavior during searching processes for materials in Korean Studies, I will discuss how users utilize the university library for print and e-resources. This study will identify gaps in information retrieval process and discuss recommendations for Korean collections

Culture + Heritage = Place-Based Learning

Presentation slidesDiscover how place-based learning engages students across grades in experiences that capitalize on heritage and culture. Presenters will share exciting projects from Kamehameha Elementary School, Pearl City High School, and Kaimuki High School that merge disciplines and build curious learners and concerned citizens. They showcase how teachers and librarians work together to design learning that connects community with schools

La conciencia fonológica y su influencia en la lecto escritura en los niños de primer grado de la Institución Educativa Antenor Orrego Espinoza - San Juan de Lurigancho UGEL 05, 2013

La presente investigación titulada: “La conciencia fonológica y su influencia en la lecto-escritura en los niños de primer grado de la Institución Educativa Antenor Orrego Espinoza - San Juan de Lurigancho UGEL 05, 2013”, ha tenido como problema general: ¿Cómo influye el programa de Conciencia Fonológica en la mejora de la lecto-escritura en los niños de primer grado de la Institución Educativa "Antenor Orrego Espinoza"- San Juan de Lurigancho UGEL 05, 2013? Objetivo General: Determinar la influencia del programa de Conciencia Fonológica en la mejora de la lecto-escritura en los niños de primer grado de la Institución Educativa "Antenor Orrego Espinoza"- San Juan de Lurigancho UGEL 05, 2013. Metodología de la investigación: tipo aplicada, método experimental, diseño cuasi experimental, la muestra fue de 41 alumnos de primer grado de primaria, secciones B grupo control y C grupo experimental se aplicó 12 sesiones sobre Conciencia Fonológica con el grupo experimental. Se recogieron los datos, mediante un pre y postest sobre lecto-escritura, aplicado a los alumnos de las secciones B y C, cuyo procesamiento se ha hecho a través del Software SPSS. En conclusión, Los resultados, obtenidos del postest en el grupo experimental presentan diferencias estadísticamente significativas con los puntajes del grupo control (U-Mann-Whitney: p = .000

Morphological and Molecular Defects in Human Three-Dimensional Retinal Organoid Model of X-Linked Juvenile Retinoschisis

X-linked juvenile retinoschisis (XLRS), linked to mutations in the RS1 gene, is a degenerative retinopathy with a retinal splitting phenotype. We generated human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from patients to study XLRS in a 3D retinal organoid in vitro differentiation system. This model recapitulates key features of XLRS including retinal splitting, defective retinoschisin production, outer-segment defects, abnormal paxillin turnover, and impaired ER-Golgi transportation. RS1 mutation also affects the development of photoreceptor sensory cilia and results in altered expression of other retinopathy-associated genes. CRISPR/Cas9 correction of the disease-associated C625T mutation normalizes the splitting phenotype, outer-segment defects, paxillin dynamics, ciliary marker expression, and transcriptome profiles. Likewise, mutating RS1 in control hiPSCs produces the disease-associated phenotypes. Finally, we show that the C625T mutation can be repaired precisely and efficiently using a base-editing approach. Taken together, our data establish 3D organoids as a valid disease model

Prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) exposure induces working memory and social recognition deficits by disrupting inhibitory synaptic networks in male mice

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs in pregnant women. Infants born following prenatal exposure to SSRIs have a higher risk for behavioral abnormalities, however, the underlying mechanisms remains unknown. Therefore, we examined the effects of prenatal fluoxetine, the most commonly prescribed SSRI, in mice. Intriguingly, chronic in utero fluoxetine treatment impaired working memory and social novelty recognition in adult males. In the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a key region regulating these behaviors, we found augmented spontaneous inhibitory synaptic transmission onto the layer 5 pyramidal neurons. Fast-spiking interneurons in mPFC exhibited enhanced intrinsic excitability and serotonin-induced excitability due to upregulated serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) signaling. More importantly, the behavioral deficits in prenatal fluoxetine treated mice were reversed by the application of a 5-HT2AR antagonist. Taken together, our findings suggest that alterations in inhibitory neuronal modulation are responsible for the behavioral alterations following prenatal exposure to SSRIs

Gasdermin D deficiency attenuates arthritis induced by traumatic injury but not autoantibody-assembled immune complexes

BACKGROUND: Gasdermin D (GSDMD) is cleaved by several proteases including by caspase-1, a component of intracellular protein complexes called inflammasomes. Caspase-1 also converts pro-interleukin-1β (pro-IL-1β) and pro-IL-18 into bioactive IL-1β and IL-18, respectively. GSDMD amino-terminal fragments form plasma membrane pores, which mediate the secretion of IL-1β and IL-18 and cause the inflammatory form of cell death pyroptosis. Here, we tested the hypothesis that GSDMD contributes to joint degeneration in the K/BxN serum transfer-induced arthritis (STIA) model in which autoantibodies against glucose-6-phosphate isomerase promote the formation of pathogenic immune complexes on the surface of myeloid cells, which highly express the inflammasomes. The unexpected outcomes with the STIA model prompted us to determine the role of GSDMD in the post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) model caused by meniscus ligamentous injury (MLI) based on the hypothesis that this pore-forming protein is activated by signals released from damaged joint tissues. METHODS: Gsdmd RESULTS: GSDMD levels were higher in serum-inoculated paws compared to PBS-injected paws. Unexpectedly, ablation of GSDMD failed to reduce joint swelling and osteolysis, suggesting that GSDMD was dispensable for the pathogenesis of STIA. GSDMD levels were also higher in MLI compared to sham-operated joints. Importantly, ablation of GSDMD attenuated MLI-associated cartilage degradation (p = 0.0097), synovitis (p = 0.014), subchondral bone sclerosis (p = 0.0006), and subchondral bone plate thickness (p = 0.0174) based on histopathological and μCT analyses. CONCLUSION: GSDMD plays a key role in the pathogenesis of PTOA, but not STIA, suggesting that its actions in experimental arthropathy are tissue context-specific

Pressure-induced shift of effective Ce valence, Fermi energy and phase boundaries in CeOs4Sb12

CeOs4Sb12, a member of the skutterudite family, has an unusual semimetallic low-temperature L-phase that inhabits a wedge-like area of the field H - temperature T phase diagram. We have conducted measurements of electrical transport and megahertz conductivity on CeOs4Sb12 single crystals under pressures of up to 3 GPa and in high magnetic fields of up to 41 T to investigate the influence of pressure on the different H-T phase boundaries. While the high-temperature valence transition between the metallic H-phase and the L-phase is shifted to higher T by pressures of the order of 1 GPa, we observed only a marginal suppression of the S-phase that is found below 1 K for pressures of up to 1.91 GPa. High-field quantum oscillations have been observed for pressures up to 3.0 GPa and the Fermi surface of the highfield side of the H-phase is found to show a surprising decrease in size with increasing pressure, implying a change in electronic structure rather than a mere contraction of lattice parameters. We evaluate the field-dependence of the effective masses for different pressures and also reflect on the sample dependence of some of the properties of CeOs4Sb12 which appears to be limited to the low-field region

Disruption of Dnmt1/PCNA/UHRF1 Interactions Promotes Tumorigenesis from Human and Mice Glial Cells

Global DNA hypomethylation is a hallmark of cancer cells, but its molecular mechanisms have not been elucidated. Here, we show that the disruption of Dnmt1/PCNA/UHRF1 interactions promotes a global DNA hypomethylation in human gliomas. We then demonstrate that the Dnmt1 phosphorylations by Akt and/or PKC abrogate the interactions of Dnmt1 with PCNA and UHRF1 in cellular and acelluar studies including mass spectrometric analyses and the use of primary cultured patient-derived glioma. By using methylated DNA immunoprecipitation, methylation and CGH arrays, we show that global DNA hypomethylation is associated with genes hypomethylation, hypomethylation of DNA repeat element and chromosomal instability. Our results reveal that the disruption of Dnmt1/PCNA/UHRF1 interactions acts as an oncogenic event and that one of its signatures (i.e. the low level of mMTase activity) is a molecular biomarker associated with a poor prognosis in GBM patients. We identify the genetic and epigenetic alterations which collectively promote the acquisition of tumor/glioma traits by human astrocytes and glial progenitor cells as that promoting high proliferation and apoptosis evasion