Integrating nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education in Africa: a scoping review

Background: Information and communication technologies have become omnipresent in healthcare systems globally, and since nurses comprise the majority of the health sector workforce, they are expected to be adequately skilled to work in a technology-mediated environment. Integrating nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education is a cornerstone to nursing education and practice in Africa. Aim: This scoping review aimed to evidence the integration of nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education in Africa. Methods: A scoping review of the literature used electronic databases including CINAHL Plus databases; EmCare; MEDLINE Ovid; Scopus; ERIC ProQuest; Web of Science; Google; and Google Scholar to locate papers specific to the African context. From a total of 8723 articles, 19 were selected for critique and synthesis. Results: Selected studies indicated that nursing students used several information and communication technologies tools primarily for academic purposes, and rarely for clinical practice. In Africa, the challenges for teaching informatics in nursing education included: limited information and communication technologies skills among faculty and students; poor teaching strategies; and a lack of standardization of nursing informatics competencies. Successful integration of nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education in African countries depends on restructuring nursing informatics content and teaching strategies, capacity building of the faculty and students in information and communication technologies, political commitment, and collaborative partnership. Conclusion: Nursing informatics is scarce in undergraduate nursing education in Africa due to the implementation and adoption challenges. Responding to these challenges requires a multi-sectoral approach in the revision of undergraduate nursing curricula. Implication for nursing education, practice, policy and research: This study highlights the importance of nursing informatics in undergraduate nursing education, with its challenges and success. Nursing education policies should support the development of well-standardized nursing informatics content and appropriate teaching strategies to deliver it. Further research is needed to establish which aspects of nursing informatics are integrated into undergraduate nursing education and nursing practice, implementation process, challenges and possible solutions. Collaborative partnerships are vital to developing nursing informatics policies to better prepare graduate nurses for the African healthcare workforce in the digital era

Choosing the right network strategy to manage exploration processes

We develop a social capital model that explains how networks of interorganizational relationships can be structured to manage exploration processes directed at gaining competitive advantage in different environmental contexts. We argue that a networkstructure of low density and high strength of relationships is beneficial if the main goal of the network is to actively configure the environment, e.g. under conditions of high environmental complexity. In contrast, a network structure of high density and low strength of relationships is advantageous if the adaptation to changing environmental conditions is the main concern of the embedded organizations, e. g., in contexts characterized by high environmental variability

Is the homophone advantage influenced by post-lexical effects?

No Abstract availabl

An ABC transporter is involved in the silicon-induced formation of casparian bands in the exodermis of rice

Silicon (Si) promotes the formation of Casparian bands (CB) in rice and reduces radial oxygen loss (ROL). Further transcriptomic approaches revealed several candidate genes involved in the Si-induced formation of CB such as ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter, Class III peroxidases, ligases and transferases. Investigation of these genes by means of overexpression (OE) and knockout (KO) mutants revealed the contribution of the ABC transporter (OsABCG25) to CB formation in the exodermis, which was also reflected in the expression of other OsABCG25 in the Si-promoted formation of CB genes related to the phenylpropanoid pathway, such as phenylalanine-ammonia-lyase, diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase and 4-coumarate-CoA ligase. Differential CB development in mutants and Si supply also affected the barrier function of the exodermis. OE of the ABC transporter and Si supply reduced the ROL from roots and Fe uptake. No effect on ROL and Fe uptake could be observed for the KO mutant. The presented research confirms the impact of the OsABCG25 in the Si-promoted formation of CB and its barrier functions. © 2017 Hinrichs, Fleck, Biedermann, Ngo, Schreiber and Schenk

The basophil activation test differentiates between patients with wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis and control subjects using gluten and isolated gluten protein types

Background: Oral food challenge using gluten and cofactors is the gold standard to diagnose wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA), but this procedure puts patients at risk of an anaphylactic reaction. Specific IgE to ω5-gliadins as major allergens and skin prick tests to wheat may yield negative results. Thus, we designed a proof-of-principle study to investigate the utility of the basophil activation test (BAT) for WDEIA diagnosis. Methods: Different gluten protein types (GPT; α-, γ-, ω1,2- and ω5-gliadins, high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits [HMW-GS] and low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits [LMW-GS]) and gluten were used in different concentrations to measure basophil activation in 12 challenge-confirmed WDEIA patients and 10 control subjects. The results were compared to routine allergy diagnostics. Parameters analyzed include the percentage of CD63+ basophils, the ratio of %CD63+ basophils induced by GPT/gluten to %CD63+ basophils induced by anti-FcεRI antibody, area under the dose-response curve and test sensitivity and specificity. Results: GPT and gluten induced strong basophil activation for %CD63+ basophils and for %CD63+/anti-FcɛRI ratio in a dose-dependent manner in patients, but not in controls (p < 0.001, respectively). BAT performance differed from acceptable (0.73 for LMW-GS) to excellent (0.91 for ω5-gliadins) depending on the specific GPT as evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Patients showed individual sensitization profiles. After determination of the best cut-off points, ω5-gliadins and HMW-GS showed the best discrimination between patients and controls with a sensitivity/specificity of 100/70 and 75/100, respectively. Conclusion: This study shows the alternative role of BAT in better defining WDEIA and the causative wheat allergens. The best BAT parameters to distinguish WDEIA patients from controls were %CD63+ basophil values for ω5-gliadins and HMW-GS

Consequences of late bilingualism for novel word learning: evidence from Tamil–English bilingual speakers

Aims and objectives: Recent studies that have investigated novel word learning have demonstrated an advantage for bilinguals compared to monolinguals. The study reported here sought to explore whether a word learning advantage is revealed only for early bilinguals with comparable proficiency in both their languages, or whether such advantages are also observed in individuals with relatively late experience of, and less proficiency in, a second language. Methodology: We tested the acquisition of novel words in an unknown language using identification and naming tasks in three groups of 20 participants: monolingual Tamil speakers; early Tamil–English bilingual speakers; and late Tamil–English bilingual speakers. Data and analysis: The data was analysed using a non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test followed by linear regressions. Findings: The results showed a bilingual advantage for word learning as evidenced by superior performance in both the naming and identification tasks and, critically, late bilinguals outperformed monolinguals. Originality: The results of the present study revealed, for the first time, a bilingual advantage in word learning even when individuals acquire their second language later in life. Significance: The results suggest that the positive effects of bilingualism may generalise beyond non-linguistic tasks, perhaps affecting a general language learning mechanism. Moreover, this seems to occur even in late bilingualism. This is in contrast to the reported effects on cognitive control mechanisms that show only weaker advantages for individuals who learned a second language later in life

Fungal Chitin Dampens Inflammation through IL-10 Induction Mediated by NOD2 and TLR9 Activation

Funding: JW and NARG thank the Wellcome Trust (080088, 086827, 075470), The Wellcome Trust Strategic Award in Medical Mycology and Fungal Immunology (097377) and the European Union ALLFUN (FP7/2007 2013, HEALTH-2010-260338) for funding. MGN was supported by a Vici grant of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. AJPB and DMM were funded by STRIFE, ERC-2009-AdG-249793 and AJPB additionally by FINSysB, PITN-GA-2008-214004 and the BBSRC [BB/F00513X/1]. MDL was supported by the MRC (MR/J008230/1). GDB and SV were funded by the Wellcome Trust (086558) and TB and MK were funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bi 696/3-1; Bi 696/5-2; Bi 696/10-1). MS was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Sch 897/1-3) and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (R01 DE017514-01). TDK and RKSM were funded by the National Institute of Health (AR056296, AI101935) and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD