A Descriptive Study of a Clinical Evaluation Tool and Process: Student and Faculty Perspectives

Clinical evaluation tools are designed to assess nursing students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to program and course outcomes and professional nursing standards. Students, faculty, administrators, and the public rely on the effectiveness of the tool and process to determine progression within the curriculum and validate competency. In May 2012, a revised clinical evaluation tool was implemented in a baccalaureate nursing program. This study was undertaken to evaluate the revised clinical evaluation tool by exploring the perspectives of students and faculty who use the tool and engage in the evaluation process. Findings revealed the tool was user friendly and instructions were clear, with sufficient grading criteria to determine clinical competency. Findings also revealed areas for improvement in the evaluation process, including orientation to the tool, connecting program outcomes to clinical performance, and meaningful participation in evaluation. Recommendations are made for improving the clinical evaluation proces

Boosting of ALVAC-SIV vaccine-primed macaques with the CD4-SIVgp120 fusion protein elicits antibodies to V2 associated with a decreased risk of SIVmac251 acquisition

The recombinant ALVAC vaccine coupled with the monomeric gp120/alum protein have decreased the risk of HIV and SIV acquisition. Ab responses to the V1/V2 regions have correlated with a decreased risk of virus acquisition in both humans and macaques. We hypothesized that the breadth and functional profile of Abs induced by an ALVAC/envelope protein regimen could be improved by substituting the monomeric gp120 boost, with the full-length single-chain (FLSC) protein. FLSC is a CD4-gp120 fusion immunogen that exposes cryptic gp120 epitopes to the immune system. We compared the immunogenicity and relative efficiency of an ALVAC-SIV vaccine boosted either with bivalent FLSC proteins or with monomeric gp120 in alum. FLSC was superior to monomeric gp120 in directing Abs to the C3 a2 helix, the V5 loop, and the V3 region that contains the putative CCR5 binding site. In addition, FLSC boosting elicited significantly higher binding Abs to V2 and increased both the Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity and the breadth of neutralizing Abs. However, the FLSC vaccine regimen demonstrated only a trend in vaccine efficacy, whereas the monomeric gp120 regimen significantly decreased the risk of SIVmac251 acquisition. In both vaccine regimens, anti-V2 Abs correlated with a decreased risk of virus acquisition but differed with regard to systemic or mucosal origin. In the FLSC regimen, serum Abs to V2 correlated, whereas in the monomeric gp120 regimen, V2 Abs in rectal secretions, the site of viral challenge, were associated with efficacy. The Journal of Immunology, 2016, 197: 2726-2737

The Physical Processes of CME/ICME Evolution

As observed in Thomson-scattered white light, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are manifest as large-scale expulsions of plasma magnetically driven from the corona in the most energetic eruptions from the Sun. It remains a tantalizing mystery as to how these erupting magnetic fields evolve to form the complex structures we observe in the solar wind at Earth. Here, we strive to provide a fresh perspective on the post-eruption and interplanetary evolution of CMEs, focusing on the physical processes that define the many complex interactions of the ejected plasma with its surroundings as it departs the corona and propagates through the heliosphere. We summarize the ways CMEs and their interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) are rotated, reconfigured, deformed, deflected, decelerated and disguised during their journey through the solar wind. This study then leads to consideration of how structures originating in coronal eruptions can be connected to their far removed interplanetary counterparts. Given that ICMEs are the drivers of most geomagnetic storms (and the sole driver of extreme storms), this work provides a guide to the processes that must be considered in making space weather forecasts from remote observations of the corona.Peer reviewe

The Relationship between Working Conditions and Commercial Pilot Fatigue Development

Fatigue is an important factor in aviation accidents, and effective fatigue management requires understanding the relationship between working conditions and fatigue. Two studies were conducted to clarify the relationship between working conditions and fatigue. In the first study, 59 airline pilots completed a workload questionnaire and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) in the morning and at the completion of their final flight of the day. In the second study, 133 pilots completed a revised questionnaire and the POMS. In both samples, fatigue increased and vigor levels decreased. Regression of fatigue increase upon working conditions indicated that the number of takeoffs and landings during the day were related to fatigue development. Correlation of incident level with both weather and airport difficulty suggest that incident level is a function of weather conditions and airport difficulty. These results argue that fatigue management should be founded upon the demands of working conditions, not merely the simplistic assessment of hours of work