A constraint on a varying proton--electron mass ratio 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang

A molecular hydrogen absorber at a lookback time of 12.4 billion years, corresponding to 10$\%$ of the age of the universe today, is analyzed to put a constraint on a varying proton--electron mass ratio, $\mu$. A high resolution spectrum of the J1443$+$2724 quasar, which was observed with the Very Large Telescope, is used to create an accurate model of 89 Lyman and Werner band transitions whose relative frequencies are sensitive to $\mu$, yielding a limit on the relative deviation from the current laboratory value of $\Delta\mu/\mu=(-9.5\pm5.4_{\textrm{stat}} \pm 5.3_{\textrm{sys}})\times 10^{-6}$.Comment: Accepted for publication in PRL. Includes supplemental materia

Influence of extraction methods on the composition of essential oils of Achillea millefolium L. from Lithuania

In this study, flowering aerial parts of Achillea millefolium were used as a matrix for supercritical CO2 extraction (SFE) of volatile oil. The collected extracts were analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS methods and their composition were compared with that of the essential oil isolated by hydrodistillation (HD). The composition of the essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation and SFE methods is widely different. Indeed, the SFE volatile oil had a pale yellow color whereas the HD oil had a blue color due to the presence of chamazulene (48.0% vs. 4.3%). Other important constituents of HD oil were (E)- caryophyllene (19.5 %) and γ-muurolene (13.1%). The CO2 supercritical extract was dominated by (E)-caryophyllene (26.0%), γ-muurolene (22.0%), and caryophyllene oxide (8.1%)

MUTUAL ATTACHMENT BETWEEN SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS AND CLIENTS IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

The article presents the results of qualitative research carried out in Lithuania. The research focused on the development of mutual attachment between social work students and clients during the professional practice by revealing subjective student experiences. Study participants comprised 53 final-year social work students from one university of Applied Sciences. The use of unstructured reflection as a data collection method enabled students to remember, think over and put their professional practice experiences in writing. Based on the grounded theory data analysis method (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), open, axial and selective coding was applied. Data analysis revealed the conditions necessary for successful mutual relationships between students and clients to emerge, the context of formation of their mutual attachment, the interactions affecting this phenomenon, the conditions preventing its formation as well as the likely consequences of attachment-based relationships between students and clients. The research results revealed that once students successfully adapt to the organization and establish close confidence-based relations with their clients during the social work practice, the mutual attachment between the student and the client is being formed. The attachment is influenced not only by relations between the student and client, but also between the student and the organization’s staff as well as organizational culture. The research results are useful for social work practice. They provide an opportunity to understand the new students’ experiences of relationships formed with different social actors in the practice and their impact on students’ professional and personal chang

WHAT DOES IT MEAN “TO BE A GOOD NURSE”? PERCEPTIONS OF NURSING STUDENTS

“To be a good nurse” is a complex phenomenon. It is the essential goal in nursing training, education and practice, and can be experienced through work practice. However, “to be a good nurse” is taken for granted and is rarely studied, mostly with the focus on personal features and in relation to good nursing and quality of nursing. The aim was to reveal nursing students’ work experience-based perceptions of the personal meaning of “to be a good nurse”. Sample. Research participants comprised 110 final year nursing students. Methods. For data collection were used unstructured individual narrative-based written reflections and the data was analyzed by applying the inductive manifest qualitative content analysis. Results. For nursing students “to be a good nurse” means courage, professionalism, loyalty, humanity, solidarity and caring. It is an individually experienced phenomenon, meaningful for nursing students when they collaborate with nurse practitioners, learn through cooperation and observation, and have the opportunity to act autonomously by taking responsibility for their own actions. Conclusion. “To be a good nurse” is a part of who the student is and the values that s/he holds dear to her/him.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN “TO BE A GOOD NURSE”? PERCEPTIONS OF NURSING STUDENTS

“To be a good nurse” is a complex phenomenon. It is the essential goal in nursing training, education and practice, and can be experienced through work practice. However, “to be a good nurse” is taken for granted and is rarely studied, mostly with the focus on personal features and in relation to good nursing and quality of nursing. The aim was to reveal nursing students’ work experience-based perceptions of the personal meaning of “to be a good nurse”. Sample. Research participants comprised 110 final year nursing students. Methods. For data collection were used unstructured individual narrative-based written reflections and the data was analyzed by applying the inductive manifest qualitative content analysis. Results. For nursing students “to be a good nurse” means courage, professionalism, loyalty, humanity, solidarity and caring. It is an individually experienced phenomenon, meaningful for nursing students when they collaborate with nurse practitioners, learn through cooperation and observation, and have the opportunity to act autonomously by taking responsibility for their own actions. Conclusion. “To be a good nurse” is a part of who the student is and the values that s/he holds dear to her/him.

"Me Convertí en una Persona Diferente": Cambio Personal de los Padres Adoptivos Lituanos a través del Aprendizaje Informal

Informal learning is understood as a complex emotional, cognitive and experiential process of learning during which the personal change of learner takes place. The article presents the findings of the qualitative study on the personal change of foster parents carried out in Lithuania, which reveals the subjective experience of informal learning of the foster parents fostering a non-relative child. By means of a narrative interview, 19 foster parents (12 women and 7 men) were interviewed in the study. The data were analyzed on the basis of the constructivist grounded theory strategy. The findings revealed that the personal change of foster parents takes place through conscious, intentional and purposeful informal learning in order to self-actualize and to become good foster parents. They themselves construct their way of learning during which they acquire new knowledge, rethink and reconstruct the knowledge they already have – all that leads to personal improvement. The personal change of foster parents also takes place through accidental, spontaneous, experiential informal learning, which is not always conscious or purposeful. While reflecting on their experience, foster parents see themselves in a new light; rethink their values and attitudes, thus getting to know themselves better. The findings of the study are important in order to highlight the role and significance of informal learning in the context of life-long learning. The findings may be a valuable contribution to the development of formalized training programs for foster parents and successful non-relative foster care.El aprendizaje informal se entiende como un complejo proceso de aprendizaje emocional, cognitivo y experiencial durante el cual se produce el cambio personal del alumno. En el artículo se presentan las conclusiones del estudio cualitativo sobre el cambio personal de los padres adoptivos llevado a cabo en Lituania, que revela la experiencia subjetiva de aprendizaje informal de los padres de acogida de un niño sin parentesco. Mediante una entrevista narrativa, se entrevistó a 19 padres adoptivos (12 mujeres y 7 hombres) en el estudio. Los datos se analizaron sobre la base de la estrategia de la teoría constructivista fundamentada. Los resultados revelaron que el cambio personal de los padres de acogida se produce a través de un aprendizaje informal consciente, intencional y con un propósito determinado, a fin de autoactualizarse y convertirse en buenos padres de acogida. Ellos mismos construyen su forma de aprendizaje durante la cual adquieren nuevos conocimientos, repensan y reconstruyen el conocimiento que ya tienen. El cambio personal de los padres adoptivos también tiene lugar a través de un aprendizaje informal accidental, espontáneo y experimental, que no siempre es consciente o tiene un propósito. Al reflexionar sobre su experiencia, los padres adoptivos se ven a sí mismos bajo una nueva luz; repensan sus valores y actitudes, y así llegan a conocerse mejor a sí mismos. Las conclusiones del estudio son importantes para poner de relieve el papel y la importancia del aprendizaje informal en el contexto del aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida. Los resultados pueden ser una valiosa contribución al desarrollo de programas de formación para padres adoptivos y los hogares de acogida sin parentesco

The CO A-X System for Constraining Cosmological Drift of the Proton-Electron Mass Ratio

The $\textrm{A}^1\Pi-\textrm{X}^1\Sigma^+$ band system of carbon monoxide, which has been detected in six highly redshifted galaxies ($z=1.6-2.7$), is identified as a novel probe method to search for possible variations of the proton-electron mass ratio ($\mu$) on cosmological time scales. Laboratory wavelengths of the spectral lines of the A-X ($v$,0) bands for $v=0-9$ have been determined at an accuracy of $\Delta\lambda/\lambda=1.5 \times 10^{-7}$ through VUV Fourier-transform absorption spectroscopy, providing a comprehensive and accurate zero-redshift data set. For the (0,0) and (1,0) bands, two-photon Doppler-free laser spectroscopy has been applied at the $3 \times 10^{-8}$ accuracy level, verifying the absorption data. Sensitivity coefficients $K_{\mu}$ for a varying $\mu$ have been calculated for the CO A-X bands, so that an operational method results to search for $\mu$-variation.Comment: 7 pages (main article), 3 figures, includes supplementary materia

Robust Constraint on a Drifting Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio at z=0.89 from Methanol Observation at Three Radio Telescopes

A limit on a possible cosmological variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio $\mu$ is derived from methanol (CH$_3$OH) absorption lines in the benchmark PKS1830$-$211 lensing galaxy at redshift $z = 0.89$ observed with the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope, the Institute de Radio Astronomie Millim\'{e}trique 30-m telescope, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Ten different absorption lines of CH$_3$OH covering a wide range of sensitivity coefficients $K_{\mu}$ are used to derive a purely statistical 1-$\sigma$ constraint of $\Delta\mu/\mu = (1.5 \pm 1.5) \times 10^{-7}$ for a lookback time of 7.5 billion years. Systematic effects of chemical segregation, excitation temperature, frequency dependence and time variability of the background source are quantified. A multi-dimensional linear regression analysis leads to a robust constraint of $\Delta\mu/\mu = (-1.0 \pm 0.8_{\rm stat} \pm 1.0_{\rm sys}) \times 10^{-7}$.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Published in PR

Search for varying constants of nature from astronomical observation of molecules

The status of searches for possible variation in the constants of nature from astronomical observation of molecules is reviewed, focusing on the dimensionless constant representing the proton-electron mass ratio $\mu=m_p/m_e$. The optical detection of H$_2$ and CO molecules with large ground-based telescopes (as the ESO-VLT and the Keck telescopes), as well as the detection of H$_2$ with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope is discussed in the context of varying constants, and in connection to different theoretical scenarios. Radio astronomy provides an alternative search strategy bearing the advantage that molecules as NH$_3$ (ammonia) and CH$_3$OH (methanol) can be used, which are much more sensitive to a varying $\mu$ than diatomic molecules. Current constraints are $|\Delta\mu/\mu| < 5 \times 10^{-6}$ for redshift $z=2.0-4.2$, corresponding to look-back times of 10-12.5 Gyrs, and $|\Delta\mu/\mu| < 1.5 \times 10^{-7}$ for $z=0.88$, corresponding to half the age of the Universe (both at 3$\sigma$ statistical significance). Existing bottlenecks and prospects for future improvement with novel instrumentation are discussed.Comment: Contribution to Workshop "High Performance Clocks in Space" at the International Space Science Institute, Bern 201