Answering Wicked Questions: Dealing With Opposing Truths as a Nursing Associate Professor

Nursing associate professors frequently are confronted with increasing responsibilities and fewer resources. These challenges commonly contribute to declines in job satisfaction and may result in departing academe. This article addresses these challenges by providing answers to four common “wicked questions” experienced by nursing associate professors: (a) How do I decline a request from a supervisor to take on additional responsibilities while continuing to support the mission of the school and advance my own scholarly productivity? (b) How do I handle the workload of multiple doctoral students with a variety of content areas that are different from my own and maintain my own level of productivity? (c) How do I handle expectations for more service, and leadership for the school, university, and professional organizations, yet the teaching and research responsibilities have not changed or have increased? and (d) What are some additional tips to being a more productive nursing associate professor

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Constraints on Brane Cosmologies

We examine constraints from Big Bang nucleosynthesis on type II Randall-Sundrum brane cosmologies with both a dark radiation component and a quadratic term that depends on the 5-dimensional Planck mass, M_5. Using limits on the abundances of deuterium and helium-4, we calculate the allowed region in the M_5-dark radiation plane and derive the precise BBN bound on M_5 alone with no dark radiation: M_5 > 13 TeV.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, references added, to appear in Phys. Lett.

STUDI NUMERIK PENGARUH PENGGUNAAN SHEARWALL BAJA TERHADAP KINERJA STRUKTUR PORTAL BAJA AKIBAT PEMBEBANAN SIKLIK

Gempa bumi adalah salah satu bencana alam yang sering terjadi diseluruh dunia khususnya di Indonesia. Salah satu elemen yang dapat digunakan untuk memikul beban gempa adalah shearwall. Shearwall dapat menjadi salah satu solusi untuk menyerap energi gempa pada struktur. Shearwall adalah dinding beton bertulang atau pelat baja yang memiliki fungsi untuk memikul gaya geser atau beban lateral akibat gempa bumi. Pada penelitian ini, peneliti akan menganalisis pengaruh variasi ketebalan shearwall baja terhadap kinerja struktur portal baja akibat pembebanan siklik ( bolak - balik ). Profil yang digunakan untuk portal baja yaitu IWF.400.200.8.13 sedangkan variasi ketebalan shearwall baja yang digunakan adalah 2, 3, 4, 5, dan 6 mm. Kedua elemen struktur tersebut menggunakan mutu baja BJ 37. Penelitian ini menggunakan Software MSC Patran - Nastran Student Version. Desain permodelan struktur menggunakan MSC Patran, sedangkan Analisa atau proses running struktur menggunakan MSC Nastran. Hasil running yang akan ditinjau adalah beban ultimate saat pembebanan monotonik, daktilitas struktur, pengaruh besar energi disipasi struktur, kekakuan struktur, dan kekuatan struktur berdasarkan variasi ketebalan shearwall baja. Hasil running beban siklik dari setiap ketebalan shearwall akan diplot menjadi kurva histeretic. Berdasarkan hasil analisa data diperoleh persentase kenaikan P ultimate pada pembebanan monotonik berdasarkan variasi ketebalan shearwall berada pada kisaran 114,347 % - 142,445 %. Sedangkan untuk nilai daktilitas diperoleh nilai minimum 2,492 dan maksimum 3,697 . Persentase besar energi disipasi untuk pembebanan siklik berdasarkan variasi ketebalan shearwall berada pada kisaran 635 kali lipat hingga 4295 kali lipat jika dibandingkan dengan energi disipasi pada ketebalan 2 mm. Sedangkan persentase kenaikan kekakuan struktur pada pembebanan siklik berdasarkan variasi ketebalan shearwall berada pada kisaran 131,715 % - 266,850 %. Kata kunci : Shearwall, Portal baja, Energi disipasi, Siklik, Kurva Hysteretic

4th Biennial Employment Law Institute

Materials from the 4th Biennial Employment Law Institute held by UK/CLE in June 1994

Angiomotin and angiomotin like proteins, their expression and correlation with angiogenesis and clinical outcome in human breast cancer

BACKGOUND: Angiomotin is a newly discovered molecule that regulates the migration and tubule formation of endothelial cells. It therefore has been implicated in the control of angiogenesis under physiological and pathological conditions. This study examined the expression of angiomotin and its analogues, angiomotin-like 1 (L1) and -like 2 (L2) in breast tumour tissues, and analysed their correlation with angiogenesis and clinical outcomes. METHODS: Human breast tissues (normal n = 32 and tumours n = 120) were used. The levels of expression of angiomotin, L1 and L2 were determined using reverse transcription PCR. Microvessels were stained using antibodies against PECAM, von Willebrand factor (factor 8, or vWF) and VE-cadherin. The transcript levels of angiomotin and its analogues were assessed against the clinical and pathological background, including long term survival (120 months). RESULTS: Breast cancer tissues expressed significantly higher levels of angiomotin transcript, compared with normal mammary tissues (33.1 ± 11 in normal versus 86.5 ± 13.7 in tumour tissues, p = 0.003). Both L1 and L2 were seen at marginally higher levels in tumour than normal tissues but the difference was not statistically significant. Levels of angiomotin were at significantly higher levels in grade 2 and grade 3 tumours compared with grade 1 (p < 0.01 and p = 0.05 respectively). The levels of angiomotin in tumours from patients who had metastatic disease were also significantly higher than those patients who remained disease free (p = 0.03). Multivariate analysis indicated that angiomotin transcript was an independent prognostic factor (p = 0.031). No significant correlations were seen between angiomotin-L1 and L2 with the clinical outcome. Furthermore, high levels of angiomotin transcript were associated with shorter overall survival (p < 0.05). There was a high degree of correlation between levels of vW factor and that of angiomotin (p < 0.05), but not angiomotin-L1 and angiomotin-L2. CONCLUSION: Angiomotin, a putative endothelial motility factor, is highly expressed in human breast tumour tissues and linked to angiogenesis. It links to the aggressive nature of breast tumours and the long term survival of the patients. These data point angiomotin as being a potential therapeutic target

Fingerprinting of hydroxyl radical-attacked polysaccharides by N-isopropyl-2-aminoacridone labelling

Hydroxyl radicals ((•)OH) cause non-enzymic scission of polysaccharides in diverse biological systems. Such reactions can be detrimental (e.g. causing rheumatic and arthritic diseases in mammals) or beneficial (e.g. promoting the softening of ripening fruit, and biomass saccharification). Here we present a method for documenting (•)OH action, based on fluorescent labelling of the oxo groups that are introduced as glycosulose residues when (•)OH attacks polysaccharides. The method was tested on several polysaccharides, especially pectin, after treatment with Fenton reagents. 2-Aminoacridone plus cyanoborohydride reductively aminated the oxo groups in treated polysaccharides; the product was then reacted with acetone plus cyanoborohydride, forming a stable tertiary amine with the carbohydrate linked to N-isopropyl-2-aminoacridone (pAMAC). Digestion of labelled pectin with ‘Driselase’ yielded several fluorescent products which on electrophoresis and HPLC provided a useful ‘fingerprint’ indicating (•)OH attack. The most diagnostic product was a disaccharide conjugate of the type pAMAC·UA-GalA (UA=unspecified uronic acid), whose UA-GalA bond was Driselase-resistant (product 2A). 2A was clearly distinguishable from GalA-GalA–pAMAC (disaccharide labelled at its reducing end), which was digestible to GalA–pAMAC. The methodology is applicable, with appropriate enzymes in place of Driselase, for detecting natural and artificial (•)OH attack in diverse plant, animal and microbial polysaccharides

A systematic review of randomised controlled trials of radiotherapy for localised prostate cancer

Background: Prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer death in males. A systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of radiotherapy and other non-pharmacological management options for localised prostate cancer was undertaken. Methods: A search of thirteen databases was carried out until March 2014.RCTs comparing radiotherapy (brachytherapy (BT) or external beam radiotherapy (EBRT)) to other management options i.e. radical prostatectomy (RP), active surveillance, watchful waiting, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), or cryotherapy; each alone or in combination, e.g. with adjuvant hormone therapy (HT), were included. Methods followed guidance by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination and the Cochrane Collaboration. Indirect comparisons were calculated using the Butcher method. Results: Thirty-six randomised controlled trials (RCTs, 134 references) were included. EBRT, BT and RP were found to be effective in the management of localised prostate cancer. While higher doses of EBRT seem to be related to favourable survival-related outcomes they might, depending on technique, involve more adverse events, e.g. gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicity. Combining EBRT with hormone therapy shows a statistically significant advantage regarding overall survival when compared to EBRT alone (Relative risk 1.21, 95% confidence interval 1.12-1.30). Aside from mixed findings regarding urinary function, BT and radical prostatectomy were comparable in terms of quality of life and biochemical progression-free survival while favouring BT regarding patient satisfaction and sexual function. There might be advantages of EBRT (with/without HT) compared to cryoablation (with/without HT). No studies on HIFU were identified. Conclusions: Based on this systematic review, there is no strong evidence to support one therapy over another as EBRT, BT and RP can all be considered as effective mono therapies for localised disease with EBRT also effective for post-operative management. All treatments have unique adverse events profiles. Further large, robust RCTs which report treatment-specific and treatment combination-specific outcomes in defined prostate cancer risk groups following established reporting standards are needed. These will strengthen the evidence base for newer technologies, help reinforce current consensus guidelines and establish greater standardisation across practices