Formation of beads-on-a-string structures during break-up of viscoelastic filaments

Break-up of viscoelastic filaments is pervasive in both nature and technology. If a filament is formed by placing a drop of saliva between a thumb and forefinger and is stretched, the filament’s morphology close to break-up corresponds to beads of several sizes interconnected by slender threads. Although there is general agreement that formation of such beads-on-a-string (BOAS) structures occurs only for viscoelastic fluids, the underlying physics remains unclear and controversial. The physics leading to the formation of BOAS structures is probed by numerical simulation. Computations reveal that viscoelasticity alone does not give rise to a small, satellite bead between two much larger main beads but that inertia is required for its formation. Viscoelasticity, however, enhances the growth of the bead and delays pinch-off, which leads to a relatively long-lived beaded structure. We also show for the first time theoretically that yet smaller, sub-satellite beads can also form as seen in experiments.National Science Foundation (U.S.). ERC-SOPS (EEC-0540855)Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Thrust on 'Directed Self-assembly of Suspended Polymer Fibers' (NSF-DMS0506941

The Evaluation of a Regional Faith Community Network's Million Hearts Program

ABSTRACT Objective: The goal of the Million Hearts initiative is to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Maryland was one state in the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Million Hearts State Learning Collaborative. Washington County, Maryland formed a collaboration between the County Health Department, Meritus Health System, and the Meritus Health Parish Nurse Coordinator to address hypertension in the county. Program Plan and Implementation: Within a regional network of 52 faith communities, the Parish Nurse Coordinator recruited 25 faith community nurses to participate in a three-month program. Nurses were trained on proper blood pressure measurement and 22 nurses identified 58 participants engaged in blood pressure self-monitoring and coaching for lifestyle changes. Additionally, nurses took 1,729 blood pressures and provided health education to individuals within their congregations. Program Evaluation: Fifty-one participants participated in blood pressure self-monitoring and lifestyle coaching with faith community nurses. There was improvement in six out of seven lifestyle areas. Eighttwo percent of participants (N = 42) decreased their systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure over three months. Conclusion: Coaching provided by faith community nurses can create an environment of sustained support to promote improved lifestyle and blood pressure changes over time

Dedicated Education Unit: Improving Critical Thinking and Anxiety

Seventeen senior bachelor of science in nursing students participated in a dedication education unit. The longitudinal study findings were statistically significant (p \u3c .05) in all areas of measure: Health Education System Inc, critical thinking scores, decreased anxiety, self-efficacy, self-confidence in clinical decision-making, and confidence. Findings from this study were translated into the clinical institution\u27s onboarding process, the Practice Transition Program, which was restructured and accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 2019

Ansiedade na gestação, prematuridade e baixo peso ao nascer: uma revisão sistemática da literatura Anxiety during pregnancy, prematurity, and low birth weight: a systematic literature review

O objetivo desta revisão �� examinar publicações que investigaram o efeito da ansiedade no maior risco de prematuridade e/ou baixo peso ao nascer. Os bancos de dados MEDLINE versão PubMed, BVS, CINAHL e HEALTHSTAR, referentes aos anos de 1966 a 2006, foram rastreados usando-se a combinação dos seguintes descritores: anxiety, pregnancy, low birth weight e prematurity. Foram localizados 13 estudos: 11 coortes, 1 transversal e 1 caso-controle. A maioria (7/13) dos estudos foi realizado nos Estados Unidos. Quatro estudos foram considerados de excelente qualidade, pois excluíram adolescentes e/ou mulheres acima de 34 anos, aferiram a ansiedade a partir do primeiro e/ou segundo trimestre de gestação, utilizaram escalas validadas para medir ansiedade, apresentaram perdas de seguimento inferiores a 30% e controlaram os mais importantes fatores de confusão. A ansiedade na gestação foi associada à prematuridade e/ou ao baixo peso ao nascer em oito estudos. Os valores de razão de chance e risco relativo variaram de 1,08 a 2,31. São necessários estudos cuidadosamente desenhados para esclarecer a relação entre ansiedade na gestação, prematuridade e baixo peso ao nascer, já que as evidências observadas ainda são contraditórias.<br>The purpose of this systematic literature review was to examine publications that had investigated the effect of anxiety on prematurity and/or low birth weight. The PubMed, BVS, CINAHL, and HEALTHSTAR databases, published from 1966 to 2006, were tracked using the following key words: "anxiety", "pregnancy", "low birth weight", and "prematurity". Thirteen studies were found: 11 cohorts, 1 cross-sectional, and 1 case-control. Most studies (7/13) were conducted in the United States. The most reliable results came from four studies, whose strengths were: exclusion of adolescents and/or women older than 34 years, studies that analyzed anxiety during the second and/or third trimester of pregnancy, used validated scales to measure anxiety, kept loss-to-follow-up rates below 30%, and applied adequate control of confounders. Anxiety during pregnancy was associated with prematurity and/or low birth weight in eight studies. Odds ratios and relative risks varied from 1.08 to 2.31. Carefully designed and well-conducted studies are still needed to clarify the relationship between anxiety during pregnancy, prematurity, and low birth weight considering that the accumulated evidence remains controversial