Moral competence in nursing: An exploration of the Giving Voice to Values Curriculum

The development of moral competence is central to the profession of nursing and its practice. Nurses engage in moral decision making that impacts the health of people, families, and communities. It is important, then, to ensure that nursing graduates possess the necessary moral development for engaging in professional practice. To this end, research was conducted, the principle premise of which was to explore the use of the introduction of the Giving Voice to Values curriculum (Gentile, 2010) and its contribution to the development of moral competence in nursing. The Giving Voice to Values curriculum is a values-based methodology enabling students to find their voice, speak up, and act on their values effectively. The curriculum develops the students’ confidence in identifying moral issues during their professional education. This research explored the use of the Giving Voice to Values curriculum as a component of an undergraduate nursing program in Australia. The exploration of the Giving Voice to Values curriculum was undertaken within a wider investigation of moral theory, moral competence, and the profession of nursing. The research undertaken in this study analysed the perceptions and practices underpinning contemporary methodologies of moral competence in nursing, and the professional regulations that uphold and secure this. Using a mixed methods research design, this study draws on a collection of data from two sources: (a) a survey of first year nursing students’ understanding of moral competence at the completion of the GVV Curriculum; and (b) semi-structured interviews of nursing experts and stakeholders’ understandings of both moral development and the morally competent nurse. Findings from this study demonstrated that the students’ understanding of both the actions and influences of moral competence remained low on completion of the Giving Voice to Values curriculum. Specifically, the study revealed developments in students’ ability to reason or to ‘think ethically’ or to recognise ethical anomalies, as well as an increase in actions taken to ‘give voice’ to their values; however, these findings were not supported by a noticeable development in students’ capacity to identify their ethical position. Nonetheless, the study revealed a development in students’ moral awareness, thereby providing a basis for the development of moral competence. Nursing experts and stakeholders perceived moral competence in nursing as a circular developmental process that required solid foundations in moral theory and communication skills, as acquired and assessed throughout undergraduate nursing education. These participants proposed that a morally competent nurse must be able to uphold professional values, moral principles, and professional practices. They emphasised that the development of moral competence within nursing must be founded on the codes and regulations that govern and guide the profession. The participants also identified observed gaps between the theory and practice of moral competence, leading to weaknesses within professional practice and health care. The Giving Voice to Values curriculum is not a moral theory in itself. The introduction of this curriculum within undergraduate nursing education must be based upon the teaching of both moral theory and professional ethics, as foundational for ongoing development of moral competence

CARDS: A blueprint and environment for domain-specific software reuse

CARDS (Central Archive for Reusable Defense Software) exploits advances in domain analysis and domain modeling to identify, specify, develop, archive, retrieve, understand, and reuse domain-specific software components. An important element of CARDS is to provide visibility into the domain model artifacts produced by, and services provided by, commercial computer-aided software engineering (CASE) technology. The use of commercial CASE technology is important to provide rich, robust support for the varied roles involved in a reuse process. We refer to this kind of use of knowledge representation systems as supporting 'knowledge-based integration.

Protein glycosylation and glycoinformatics for novel biomarker discovery in neurodegenerative diseases

Funding Information: This work was supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., through iNOVA4Health (UIDB/04462/2020, UIDP/04462/2020) and LS4FUTURE Associated Laboratory (LA/P/0087/2020). Funding Information: The development of resources of the Glyco@Expasy initiative that includes GlyConnect and GlyConnect Compozitor, is supported by the Swiss Federal Government through the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI ). Expasy is maintained by the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and hosted at the Vital-IT Competency Center. Funding Information: We thank: Prof. Nicolle H. Packer and Dr. Katherine Wongtrakul-Kish, School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science, & Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia, for their suggestions and critical reading of the manuscript; Dr. Julien Mariethoz for his contribution to integrating the brain dataset in GlyConnect. This work was supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. through iNOVA4Health (UIDB/04462/2020, UIDP/04462/2020) and LS4FUTURE Associated Laboratory (LA/P/0087/2020). The development of resources of the Glyco@Expasy initiative that includes GlyConnect and GlyConnect Compozitor, is supported by the Swiss Federal Government through the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Expasy is maintained by the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and hosted at the Vital-IT Competency Center. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The AuthorsGlycosylation is a common post-translational modification of brain proteins including cell surface adhesion molecules, synaptic proteins, receptors and channels, as well as intracellular proteins, with implications in brain development and functions. Using advanced state-of-the-art glycomics and glycoproteomics technologies in conjunction with glycoinformatics resources, characteristic glycosylation profiles in brain tissues are increasingly reported in the literature and growing evidence shows deregulation of glycosylation in central nervous system disorders, including aging associated neurodegenerative diseases. Glycan signatures characteristic of brain tissue are also frequently described in cerebrospinal fluid due to its enrichment in brain-derived molecules. A detailed structural analysis of brain and cerebrospinal fluid glycans collected in publications in healthy and neurodegenerative conditions was undertaken and data was compiled to create a browsable dedicated set in the GlyConnect database of glycoproteins (https://glyconnect.expasy.org/brain). The shared molecular composition of cerebrospinal fluid with brain enhances the likelihood of novel glycobiomarker discovery for neurodegeneration, which may aid in unveiling disease mechanisms, therefore, providing with novel therapeutic targets as well as diagnostic and progression monitoring tools.publishersversionpublishe

Gaseous Hydrocarbon Separations Using Functionalized Ionic Liquids

International audienceThe functionalization of the side chains on the cation or the anion of an ionic liquid is a common approach to tailor its properties for different processes including the separation of gases. In this paper, we present the current state of the art concerning the usage of ionic liquids for hydrocarbon separations. We also show how the functionalization of ionic liquids or the appropriate anion/cation combinations can contribute to the increase of the performance of the ionic liquids for the separation of gaseous hydrocarbons – either by improving the capacity of the ionic liquid to absorb a given gas or by increasing the selectivity towards a particular hydrocarbon. Original results concerning the usage of olefin-complexing metal salts of lithium (I), nickel (II) and copper (II) dissolved in ionic liquids for selectively absorbing light olefins are presented. It is observed that the absorption capacity of an imidazolium-based ionic liquid is doubled by the addition of a copper (II) salt. This result is compared with the effect of the functionalization of the ionic liquid and the advantages and difficulties of the two approaches are analyzed.La fonctionnalisation des chaînes latérales sur le cation ou l’anion d’un liquide ionique est une approche commune pour adapter ses propriétés pour les différents processus, y compris la séparation de gaz. Dans cet article, nous présentons l’état actuel des recherches concernant l’utilisation de liquides ioniques pour les séparations d’hydrocarbures gazeux. Nous montrons comment la fonctionnalisation de liquides ioniques ou des combinaisons d’anions/cations appropriées peuvent contribuer à l’augmentation de leur performance pour la séparation des hydrocarbures gazeux – soit par l’amélioration de la capacité du liquide ionique pour absorber un gaz donné ou en augmentant la sélectivité pour un hydrocarbure particulier. Des résultats originaux concernant l’utilisation de sels métalliques de lithium (I), le nickel (II) et le cuivre (II) dissous dans des liquides ioniques pour absorber sélectivement des oléfines légères sont présentés. On constate que la capacité d’absorption d’un liquide ionique à base d’imidazolium est doublée par addition d’un sel de cuivre (II). Ce résultat est comparé avec l’effet de la fonctionnalisation du liquide ionique. Les avantages et les difficultés de ces deux approches sont analysés

Steps towards collective sustainability in biomedical research

The optimism surrounding multistakeholder research initiatives does not match the clear view of policies that are needed to exploit the potential of these collaborations. Here we propose some action items that stem from the integration between research advancements with the perspectives of patient-advocacy organizations, academia, and industry

Demographic and health profiles of people with severe mental illness in general practice in Australia: a cross-sectional study

Background. People with severe mental illness have a higher rate of premature death than the general population, largely due to primary care preventable diseases. There has been little research on the health profile of this population attending Australian general practices. Methods. In this nationwide cross-sectional study, MedicineInsight data for adult patients regularly attending general practices in 2018 were analysed to estimate the prevalence of schizophrenia or bipolar disorders (SBD) and investigate the health profile of people with SBD compared with other patients. Multilevel models clustered by practice (n = 565) and patient, and practice characteristics were created. Results. The prevalence of recorded SBD was 1.91% (95% CI = 1.88%–1.94%) among the 618 849 patients included. Patients with recorded SBD were more likely than other patients to have records of health risk factors, particularly smoking (aOR = 3.8, 95% CI = 3.6–3.9) and substance use (aOR = 5.9, 95% CI = 5.6–6.3), and higher probabilities of comorbidities including cardiovascular diseases (aOR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.2–1.4), cancer (aOR = 1.1, 95% CI = 1.0–1.2), diabetes mellitus type 2 (aOR = 2.2, 95% CI = 2.0–2.3), chronic kidney diseases (aOR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.5–2.0), chronic liver diseases (aOR = 3.3, 95% CI = 2.6–4.0) and chronic respiratory diseases (aOR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.7–1.8). Conclusions. The higher prevalence of health risk factors and comorbidities among patients with recorded SBD underscores the need for proactive health risk monitoring and preventive care to address this health inequity

Informant Personality Is Associated With Ratings of Memory Problems in Older Adults

Memory complaints are a key diagnostic criterion for dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Rating scales can be used to capture information about individuals’ memory problems from informants such as family members. However, problems with scale reliability suggest that individual differences influence the ratings informants provide. This project tested whether informants’ neuroticism was associated with their ratings of an older adult’s memory. In an online study, 293 volunteers completed a Five Factor personality questionnaire and used two memory questionnaires to provide ratings of memory problems in an older individual they knew well. Rater neuroticism correlated positively with estimates of memory problems: more neurotic informants provided higher estimates of memory difficulties in the person they were rating. A second study replicated this finding with 786 volunteers and another widely used memory measure, the AD8. In both studies, exploratory analyses suggested the effect size was large enough to impact on clinical practice

Chitosan-cellulose particles as delivery vehicles for limonene fragrance

This study proposes the use of chitosan-cellulose particles to encapsulate limonene, a fragrant component widely used in the flavor and fragrance industries. As cellulose possesses a stiff molecular structure due to the threedimensional arrangement of hydrogen bonded hydroxyls, its dissolution is difficult to achieve. To surpass this constraint, and solubilize cellulose, LiOH/urea/water systems were tested using different freezing temperatures and number of freezing/thawing/stirring cycles. Then, chitosan-cellulose composite particles were produced and characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to assess morphology and size, and by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) to access chitosan-cellulose molecular interactions. The release behaviour of limonene from the chitosan-cellulose particles was studied by gas chromatography (GC). The obtained particles presented an average diameter ranging from 1 to 2mm and spherical shape, characteristics very similar to the corresponding empty cellulose-chitosan composite particles. A good affinity was found between the two biopolymers, cellulose and chitosan. The achieved encapsulation efficiency of limonene was 51.29%, and the produced particles demonstrated a burst release of limonene in the first 24 h, followed by a decrease over 162 h. Based on the achieved results this system seems favourable for applications requiring preservation of sensory qualities and prolonged release of fragrances.This work was financially supported by: Associate Laboratory LSRELCM - UID/EQU/50020/2019 - funded by national funds through FCT/ MCTES (PIDDAC). This work is a result of: Project "AIProcMat@N2020 - Advanced Industrial Processes and Materials for a Sustainable Northern Region of Portugal 2020", with the reference NORTE-01- 0145-FEDER-000006, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM - UID/EQU/50020/2019 - funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). CIMO (UID/ AGR/00690/2019) through FEDER under Program PT2020. P. Costa acknowledges her postdoctoral grant from FCT (SFRH/BPD/93108/ 2013). To the national funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract for I.P. Fernandes contract.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio