Experienced nurse educators' perceptions of doctoral (PhD) preparation as supporting their nurse educator roles

Because of the highly complex expectations of new nursing graduates "nursing education needs teachers with a deep nursing knowledge who also know how to teach and conduct research...in order to address the specific educational demands of teaching the complex practice of nursing" (Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, & Day, 2010, p. 6). Currently, the educational requirement for a nurse educator in a university setting is a doctoral degree, preferably a PhD. However, Cronon(2006) emphasized that "many PhD recipients are ill prepared to function effectively in the settings in which they work...particularly those related to teaching" (p. 5). The purpose of this study was to document the perceptions of experienced nurse educators both prepared, and currently preparing at the doctoral (PhD) level, to understand to what extent PhD work prepared them for their role in the delivery of nursing education. A case study approach was selected, using a constructivist paradigm. Data were collected from ten participants at three sites of a university school of nursing using three semi-structured interviews. Primary data were supplemented by institutional foundation documents and a field journal. Four themes emerged from the data as follows: the ambiguities associated with the interpretation of the term nurse educator influenced how a nurse educator described their role; doctoral (PhD) education enhanced approaches to thinking in relation to increased breadth and depth of knowledge base, in addition to research capabilities; the PhD credential was found to be indicative of research credibility both within and across the disciplines and enhanced the potential for funding opportunities; and doctoral (PhD) education did not support the pedagogical aspects, specifically formal teaching preparation, of the nurse educator's role. While this study provided insight in understanding how doctoral (PhD) education supported experienced nurse educators in their roles, it identified issues that impacted on how these nurse educators enacted their roles. These issues included both a disconnection and a perceived inequality between research and teaching, in addition to a marked variation in the interpretation of the scholarship of teaching. Among the implications of this study on theory are its contributions to understanding the experiences of nurse educators in relation to their doctoral (PhD) education as supporting their roles in the delivery of nursing education. Among the implications of this study for research is the need to investigate how doctoral (PhD) education could better support the pedagogical aspect of nurse educators' roles, or whether other doctoral (EdD) education might be more effective in providing this pedagogical foundational knowledge. Additional implications of this study for research are to identify ways in which thinking, research, and practice could function collectively, rather than as separate entities. Among the implications for practice are a greater understanding of the teacher-scholar model in relation to the components of discovery, integration, application, and teaching (Boyer, 1990), and how learning organizations and communities of knowledge could facilitate this deeper understanding

Development of asphalts and pavements using recycled tire rubber. Phase 1: technical feasibility. Final report

This report documents the technical progress made on the development of asphalts and pavements using recycled tire rubber

Die inhaltsbasierte Bildsuche und Bilderschließung : Ansätze und Problemfelder

Bilder zu suchen und zu analysieren erweist sich als deutlich komplexer als die – ohnehin schon schwierige – Suche und Analyse von und in Textdokumenten. Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt in diesem Kontext einen Überblick über Grundlagen und Konzepte der inhaltsbasierten Bildrecherche für Anwender aus den Geistes- und Kulturwissenschaften. Der erste Teil behandelt die Geschichte und Konzepte zum inhaltsbasierten Image Retrieval: typische Anwendungsfälle, Arten von Bildern, die Rolle der Semantik, die Auswirkungen einer Segmentierung, die sensorische bzw. semantische Lücke sowie Standards der Bildrecherche. Der zweite Teil des Beitrags erläutert verschiedene Herangehensweisen zur Bildsuche und Bildanalyse. Beginnend mit klassischen Bildeigenschaften (Farbe, Textur, Form) über Segmentierungsverfahren und lokale Bildeigenschaften bis hin zu Ansätzen des Deep Learning werden verschiedene Verfahren skizziert und in ihren Stärken und Schwächen charakterisiert. Ein Blick auf einige exemplarische Anwendungen rundet den Beitrag ab

Development of superior asphalt recycling agents. Phase 1, Technical feasibility. Final technical progress report

After an introduction and a literature survey in Chap. 1, Chap. 2 describes the tasks, together with objectives and important results obtained for each task throughout the entire project. Chaps. 3 thru 7 detail work in developing a qualitative and quantitative knowledge of asphalt oxidation, composition dependence of asphalt properties, and guidelines for producing superior asphalt binders through composition control. They also detail the development of a kinetic model for asphalt oxidative aging and present an understanding of the composition dependence of asphalt oxidation as well as other performance-related properties. Chaps. 8 and 9 compare the aging performance of recycled blends produced using commercial recycling agents and industrial supercritical fractions as rejuvenating agents. Oxidative aging of the recycled blends were evaluated along with the performance of the recycled blends in terms of the strategic highway research program performance grading procedure. Chap. 10 summarizes the work completed in the areas of processing schemes development, projection updates, and scale-up and commercialization plans

Development of superior asphalt recycling agents: Phase 1, Technical feasibility. Technical progress report

About every 12 years, asphalt roads must be reworked, and this is usually done by placing thick layers (hot-mix overlays) of new material on top of failed material, resulting in considerable waste of material and use of new asphalt binder. A good recycling agent is needed, not only to reduce the viscosity of the aged material but also to restore compatibility. Objective is to establish the technical feasibility (Phase I) of determining the specifications and operating parameters for producing high quality recycling agents which will allow most/all the old asphalt-based road material to be recycled. It is expected that supercritical fractionation can be used. The advanced road aging simulation procedure will be used to study aging of blends of old asphalt and recycling agents

Hybrid computer simulation of turbulent diffusion in the atmosphere by Monte Carlo methods

Turbulent diffusion in the atmosphere was simulated by implementing a new Monte Carlo method on a hybrid computer. The new method involved the development of a stochastic Langevin equation which required the instantaneous wind velocity as input information to simulate the diffusion process. Although several established models were available for the mean wind profile, there were no models available for the fluctuating component of the velocity. Thus a model was developed by using empirical equations to describe the rms value as a function of position and by using independent Gaussian white noises of proper frequency range and power spectral densities. The present method was evaluated by comparing the results to the theoretical dispersion in a homogeneous flow and to experimental concentration profiles in a boundary layer and in the atmosphere. All of the experimental flow fields were nonhomogeneous. Good agreement was found in all cases. The simulated concentration distributions were found to have a 95% statistical reliability by a chi-square goodness-of-fit test. A few of the major advantages of the present method are (1) since the current method simulates the diffusion process directly, it has great flexibility and the concept of eddy diffusion coefficients is not used, and (2) essentially all meteorological effects can be fully utilized. The present method is also applicable to multiple sources of almost any type.Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Department o

Collection of VLE data for acid gas-alkanolamine systems using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

The industrial standard process for the purification of natural gas is to remove acid gases, mainly hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide, by the absorption and reaction of these gases with alkanolamines. Inadequate data for vapor -- liquid equilibrium (VLE) hinder the industry from converting operations to more energy efficient amine mixtures and conserving energy. Some energy reductions have been realized in the past decade by applying such amine systems as hindered'' amines, methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), and MDEA based amine mixtures. However, the lack of reliable and accurate fundamental VLE data impedes the commercial application of these more efficient alkanolamine systems. The first project objective is to improve the accuracy of vapor -- liquid equilibrium measurements at low hydrogen sulfide concentrations. The second project objective is to measure the VLE for amine mixtures. By improving the accuracy of the VLE measurements on MDEA and mixtures with other amines, energy saving can be quickly and confidently implemented in the many existing absorption units already in use. If about 25% of the existing 95.3 billion SCFD gas purification capacity is converted to these new amine systems, the energy savings are estimated to be about 3 {times} 10{sup 14} BTU/yr

Two dimensional turbulent boundary layer with favorable pressure gradients: similarity type solution of momentum equation

The turbulent boundary layer momentum equation was solved by using similarity variables to transform the partial differential equation into a more manageable form. Contrary to the case for laminar boundary layers, this equation contained a term involving streamwise derivatives which was not negligible. Thus, a method to estimate the streamwise term was devised. A modification of an eddy viscosity distribution for pipe flow due to Gill and Sher was used to eliminate the Reynolds' shear stresses. The modified Gill and-Sher equation was used for the so-called inner region of the boundary layer while the eddy viscosity was assumed constant in the outer region. Although the eddy viscosity distribution was not representative of the flow for adverse pressure gradients, it was quite satisfactory for zero and favorable pressure gradients involving fully developed turbulent flow. As a consequence of the eddy viscosity distribution, unacceptable results were acquired for adverse pressure gradient cases. The present method was evaluated for zero and favorable pressure gradients by comparing the results with three different flows under various conditions. Good agreement was observed in all cases for the local and average skin friction coefficients and velocity profiles. Except for one boundary layer involving nonequilibrium flows, good results were obtained for the displacement and momentum thicknesses. One of the major advantages of the present method was that a minimum of input information was required. That is, for any given boundary layer, only the approach velocity and the streamwise pressure gradient were needed.Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Department o