Co-producing a digital educational programme for registered children’s nurses to improve care of children and young people admitted with self-harm

Despite the increasing prevalence of hospital admissions for self-harm in children and young people (CYP), there is paucity of registered children’s nurse (rCN) training or involvement of children to improve care for this often stigmatized patient group. This article describes a participatory approach towards using co-production with CYP and rCN to develop a digital educational programme to improve nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and confidence in caring for CYP with self-harm injuries. A priority-setting workshop with rCNs was used to establish consensus of information needs. This was followed by an e-learning content development workshop undertaken with CYP whom had previously experienced hospital admissions for self-harm injuries. Findings from the nurse priority-setting workshop identified three educational priorities: (1) knowledge of self-harm, (2) effective communication and (3) risk management. The CYP subsequently developed these topic areas to ensure the contents and design of the e-learning resource had fidelity by reflecting the experiences of CYP and needs when cared for in hospital. This article illustrates that involving service users to co-develop educational materials is a feasible and important step in designing educational resources and ensures the content is relevant, appropriate and sensitive to both the recipient of care and those responsible for its delivery

Structural equation modeling of mediation and moderation with contextual factors

This work was supported in part by grants from the NIH to the University of Kansas through the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (5 P30 HD002528), the Center for Biobehavioral Neurosciences in Communication Disorders (5 P30 DC005803), an Individual National Research Service Award (F32 MH072005) to the second author while at the University of Kansas, an Individual National Research Service Award (F32 DA016883-03) to the fourth author while at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a NFGRF grant (2301779) from the University of Kansas to the first author. This work was also partly supported by grants to the first author from NSF (BCS-0345677), the Merrill Advanced Study Center at the University of Kansas (Mabel Rice, director), and the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology (SMEP)

Epsilon Metal Summary Report FY 2011

The Epsilon-metal ({var_epsilon}-metal) phase was selected in FY 2009 as a potential waste form to for immobilizing the noble metals found in the undissolved solids + aqueous stream, and the soluble Tc from ion-exchange process, each resulting from proposed aqueous reprocessing. {var_epsilon}-metal phase is observed in used nuclear fuel and the natural reactors of Oklobono in Gabon, where the long-term corrosion behavior was demonstrated. This makes {var_epsilon}-metal a very attractive waste form. Last fiscal year, {var_epsilon}-metal was successfully fabricated by combining the five-metals, Mo, Ru, Rh, Pd and Re (surrogate for Tc), into pellets followed by consolidation with an arc melter. The arc melter produced fully dense samples with the epsilon structure. However, some chemistry differences were observed in the microstructure that resulted in regions rich in Re and Mo, and others rich in Pd, while Ru and Rh remained fairly constant throughout. This year, thermal stability (air), and corrosion testing of the samples fabricated by arc melting were the main focus for experimental work. Thermal stability was measured with a differential scanning calorimeter - thermogravimetric analyzer, by both ramp heating as well as step heating. There is clear evidence during the ramp heating experiment of an exothermic event + a weight loss peak both beginning at {approx}700 C. Step heating showed an oxidation event at {approx}690 C with minimal weight gain that occurs just before the weight loss event at 700 C. The conclusion being that the e-metal begins to oxidize and then become volatile. These findings are useful for considering the effects of voloxidation process. Three different pellets were subjected to electrochemical testing to study the corrosion behavior of the epsilon-metal phase in various conditions, namely acidic, basic, saline, and inert. Test was done according to an interim procedure developed for the alloy metal waste form. First an open circuit potential was measured, followed by linear polarization sweeps. The linear polarization sweep range was the Tafel equation was fit to the linear polarization sweep data to determine the corrosion rate of each pellet in each test solution. The average calculated corrosion rates of the three pellets according to solution conditions were: -1.91 x 10{sup -4} mm/yr (0.001 M NaOH), -1.48 x 10{sup -3} mm/yr (0.01 M NaCl), -8.77 x 10{sup -4} mm/yr (0.001 M H{sub 2}SO{sub 4}), -2.09 x 10{sup -3} mm/yr (0.001 M NaOH + 0.01 M NaCl), and -1.54 x 10{sup -3} mm/yr (0.001 M H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} + 0.01 M NaCl). Three single-pass flow through (SPFT) test were conducted at a flow rate of 10 ml/day, at 90 C, and pH of 2.5, 7.0, and 9.0 for up to 322 days. Results of the tests indicate that dissolution rates were 5 x 10{sup -4} g m{sup 2} d{sup -1} at pH 9.0, 1.2 x 10{sup -4} g m{sup -2} d{sup -1} at pH 7.0, and 2 x 10{sup -4} g m{sup -2} d{sup -1} at pH 2.5. The sample used for the pH 7.0 SPFT test contains extra Re compared to samples used for the other two SPFT test, which came from a single pellet. The corrosion data measured this year indicate that the {var_epsilon}-metal phase is chemically durable. The two chemically different phases, but structurally the same, behave differently during dissolution according to the microstructure changes observed in both the electrochemical and in SPFT test. Characterization of the test specimens after testing suggests that the dissolution is complex and involves oxidative dissolution followed by precipitation of both oxide and metallic phases. These data suggest that the dissolution in the electrochemical and SPFT tests is different; a process that needs further investigation

Effect of Concrete Waste Form Properties on Radionuclide Migration

Assessing long-term performance of Category 3 waste cement grouts for radionuclide encasement requires knowledge of the radionuclide-cement interactions and mechanisms of retention (i.e., sorption or precipitation) the mechanism of contaminant release, the significance of contaminant release pathways, how waste form performance is affected by the full range of environmental conditions within the disposal facility, the process of waste form aging under conditions that are representative of processes occurring in response to changing environmental conditions within the disposal facility, the effect of waste form aging on chemical, physical, and radiological properties and the associated impact on contaminant release. This knowledge will enable accurate prediction of radionuclide fate when the waste forms come in contact with groundwater. Numerous sets of tests were initiated in fiscal years (FY) 2006-2009 to evaluate (1) diffusion of iodine (I) and technetium (Tc) from concrete into uncontaminated soil after 1 and 2 years, (2) I and rhenium (Re) diffusion from contaminated soil into fractured concrete, (3) I and Re (set 1) and Tc (set 2) diffusion from fractured concrete into uncontaminated soil, (4) evaluate the moisture distribution profile within the sediment half-cell, (5) the reactivity and speciation of uranium (VI) (U(VI)) compounds in concrete porewaters, (6) the rate of dissolution of concrete monoliths, and (7) the diffusion of simulated tank waste into concrete

How do ecological perspectives help understand schools as sites for teacher learning?

Schools are sites of teachers’ professional learning for both new entrants and experienced practitioners. In this paper, schools are conceptualised as complex, multidimensional ecologies that are constituted by the relations that exist between school leaders, teachers, mentors and all members of the school community. As relational environments, the conditions affecting professional learning – both formal and informal – are constantly dynamic, with multiple and simultaneous interactions taking place between these stakeholders. Interactions are also multi-layered – between the school system, individuals, classrooms, the community and the policy environment. School leaders are a major influence on these dynamics and affect how schools act as sites of professional formation, mediating external policy as well as affecting micro-dynamics within individual school systems. The challenge of realising professional learning within these relational contexts can be viewed as a ‘wicked problem’, a feature of complex systems that resists simplified solutions. In conceptualising a complex ecology at work, we illuminate the relational dynamics with a focus, for all stakeholders within schools, including leaders, on the need to recognise and value the importance of ‘emergence’ in professional learning. This means embracing inevitable uncertainty as a feature of schools as complex systems

Researching COVID-19: A Research Agenda for Public Policy and Administration Scholars

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is one of the defining policy challenges of an era. In this article we sketch some possible ways in which the public policy and administration (PPA) scholarly community can make an enduring contribution about how to cope with this terrible crisis. We do so by offering some elements that to delineate a tentative research agenda for PPA scholars, to be pursued with epistemic humility. We outline the contours of seven analytical themes that are central to the challenges presented by COVID-19: policy design and instruments; policy learning; public service and its publics; organisational capacity; public governance; administrative traditions; and public sector reforms in multi-level governance (MLG). The list is neither exhaustive nor exclusive to COVID-19 only. The knowledge the PPA scholarly community can generate must speak not only to the daunting challenge of COVID-19 itself but also to policymakers, and indeed humankind, trying to cope with future unexpected but high impact threats (‘black swans’), by leveraging better public policies and building administrative capacities to enable more resilient, equitable and effective public services

Integrated approach of the citizen’s role in relation to the public services

The paper achieves an integrated, interdisciplinary approach of the citizens’ roles related to public service providers. The contemporary public service development awards multiple roles to the citizen, interacting with the activities of design, decision-making, production, delivery or assessment, specific for various stages of the life cycle of the public services. Such an approach substantiates the public marketing strategies and it integrates aspects concerning service delivery in the private secto