First Time-dependent Study of H2 and H3+ Ortho-Para Chemistry in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium: Observations Meet Theoretical Predictions

The chemistry in the diffuse interstellar medium initiates the gradual increase of molecular complexity during the life cycle of matter. A key molecule that enables build-up of new molecular bonds and new molecules via proton-donation is H3+. Its evolution is tightly related to molecular hydrogen and thought to be well understood. However, recent observations of ortho and para lines of H2 and H3+ in the diffuse ISM showed a puzzling discrepancy in nuclear spin excitation temperatures and populations between these two key species. H3+, unlike H2, seems to be out of thermal equilibrium, contrary to the predictions of modern astrochemical models. We conduct the first time-dependent modeling of the para-fractions of H2 and H3+ in the diffuse ISM and compare our results to a set of line-of-sight observations, including new measurements presented in this study. We isolate a set of key reactions for H3+ and find that the destruction of the lowest rotational states of H3+ by dissociative recombination largely control its ortho/para ratio. A plausible agreement with observations cannot be achieved unless a ratio larger than 1:5 for the destruction of (1,1)- and (1,0)-states of H3+ is assumed. Additionally, an increased CR ionization rate to 10(-15) 1/s further improves the fit whereas variations of other individual physical parameters, such as density and chemical age, have only a minor effect on the predicted ortho/para ratios. Thus our study calls for new laboratory measurements of the dissociative recombination rate and branching ratio of the key ion H3+ under interstellar conditions.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, 3 table

Knowledge of nursing graduates on oral health care for older people in the long-term care

Objectives: Oral health self-care deteriorates in older adults due to a decreasing level of cognition increasing disability and/or a reduction in manual dexterity. Older adults in hospital care or residential care therefore increasingly need assistance for oral health care. There is an increase in dentate patients entering residential care due to advances in dentistry. It is suggested therefore that nurses in aged care increasingly need advanced knowledge to care for their older dentate patients to prevent and minimize progression of oral diseases, given the impact of poor oral health on general health. The current study was conducted to investigate the oral health care knowledge of nursing graduates across Aotearoa New Zealand. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among third year nursing graduates in 18 nursing institutes in New Zealand. Oral health care knowledge and oral–systemic connection knowledge, and predictors of oral health care knowledge were investigated. Results: Total 148 students participated in the student's survey, making it 15% of 2020 graduates. The students’ survey results suggested that nursing graduates have good basic oral health knowledge, however, their knowledge of the oral–systemic disease connection and the value of an examination of the oral cavity were poor. Conclusion: The oral health care knowledge of nursing students and their ability to care for older adults relies on oral health care education in their nursing programs. A revision of curricula to improve oral health education in nursing programs is strongly recommended

Geriatric oral health care content and barriers to its incorporation in undergraduate nursing curricula: New Zealand survey

Introduction: An increasingly older population demands major remodeling of our health care system. Older adults are most likely to be affected by the oral-systemic connection due to their impairment in functional capacity and reduced ability to undertake routine oral care. An economic way to improve oral health outcomes in older populations is by involving nurses and caregivers in ensuring the maintenance of oral health for older adults. This study aimed to investigate the present educational content relevant to the oral health of older adults, the oral-systemic connection, and assessment methods in New Zealand nursing education. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among nursing educators to understand the extent of oral health care education. Quantitative descriptive data were analyzed using SPSS software and qualitative data were analyzed descriptively and presented as themes. Results: The results indicated that the majority of oral health topics were already incorporated into nursing education, however most important topics such as risk factors associated with dental caries, periodontal health, and risk factors are not taught in almost 40% of the schools. The four themes identified in qualitative analyses are “no barrier”, “lack of expertise”, “no space for more content” and oral health content “already included”. Conclusion: Educators reported that oral health topics are already incorporated into New Zealand undergraduate nursing curricula. However, the quantity and quality of oral health content relevant to older adults need to be improved and updated to suit the current oral health care needs of the growing older population

Simplified Automatic Fault Detection in Wind Turbine Induction Generators

This paper presents a simplified automated fault detection scheme for wind turbine induction generators with rotor electrical asymmetries. Fault indicators developed in previous works have made use of the presence of significant spectral peaks in the upper sidebands of the supply frequency harmonics; however, the specific location of these peaks may shift depending on the wind turbine speed. As wind turbines tend to operate under variable speed conditions, it may be difficult to predict where these fault‐related peaks will occur. To accommodate for variable speeds and resulting shifting frequency peak locations, previous works have introduced methods to identify or track the relevant frequencies, which necessitates an additional set of processing algorithms to locate these fault‐related peaks prior to any fault analysis. In this work, a simplified method is proposed to instead bypass the issue of variable speed (and shifting frequency peaks) by introducing a set of bandpass filters that encompass the ranges in which the peaks are expected to occur. These filters are designed to capture the fault‐related spectral information to train a classifier for automatic fault detection, regardless of the specific location of the peaks. Initial experimental results show that this approach is robust against variable speeds and further shows good generalizability in being able to detect faults at speeds and conditions that were not presented during training. After training and tuning the proposed fault detection system, the system was tested on “unseen” data and yielded a high classification accuracy of 97.4%, demonstrating the efficacy of the proposed approach

Problematising international placements as a site of intercultural learning

This paper theorises some of the learning outcomes of a three-year project concerning student learning in international social work placements in Malaysia. The problematic issue of promoting cultural and intercultural competence through such placements is examined, where overlapping hegemonies are discussed in terms of isomorphism of social work models, that of the nation state, together with those relating to professional values and knowledge, and the tyrannies of received ideas. A critical discussion of cultural competence as the rationale for international placements is discussed in terms of the development of the graduating social worker as a self-reflexive practitioner. The development of sustainable international partnerships able to support student placement and the issue of non-symmetrical reciprocation, typical of wide socio-economic differentials across global regions, is additionally discussed