A Phylogenetic Analysis of Extinct and Extant Pan-Alcidae (Charadriiformes: Aves)

Pan-Alcidae is a clade of birds consisting of the crown-clade Alcidae and the extinct Mancallinae. They include 24 extant species, 1 recently extinct species, and a fossil record extending as far back as the Eocene. All extinct and extant Pan-alcid diversity exhibit an exclusively Holarctic distribution with the majority of extant diversity found in the Pacific. The relationships of the Pan-Alcidae have been a long-standing subject of debate. Early systematic hypotheses placed Pan-Alcidae as close relatives of various water birds, however modern phylogenetic hypotheses have supported their placement within Charadriiformes. Their exact placement within Charadriiformes has yielded multiple hypotheses with further difficulty found in resolving the relationships within the clade itself. Until recently, most work on Pan-Alcidae systematics focused primarily on extant diversity, neglecting to include data from their robust fossil record. By performing molecular, morphological, and combined analyses of Pan-Alcidae and a dense outgroup of Charadriiformes representatives, this study proposes hypotheses for the relationships of extinct and extant species. A novel hypothesis is proposed for the placement of the extinct Aethia rossmoori among the Brachyramphus. This relationship makes A. rossmoori the earliest known fossil from this lineage and extends the Brachyramphus lineage’s fossil record into the Late Miocene. Additionally, all analyses support the placement of Pseudocepphus teres as sister to the Cepphus extending their temporal and geographic range to include the Middle to Late Miocene Atlantic. A Bayesian total-evidence dating analysis estimated a divergence of Alcidae from other Charadriiformes during the Early Eocene. The divergence of the major Alcidae clades (the Fraterculinae and Alcinae) was estimated to have occurred during the Oligocene. Of 29 fossil Pan-Alcidae species, 6 were inferred to be sampled ancestors. Notably, Mancalla cedrosensis was inferred to be a direct ancestor of Mancalla californiensis providing a novel hypothesis for their previously supported close relationship

Acknowleding attributes that enable the career academic nurse to thrive in the tertiary education sector: A qualitative systematic review

© 2016 Objective To optimise the career development in early career academic nurses by providing an overview of the attributes necessary for success. Background Evidence of early prospective career planning is necessary to optimise success in the tertiary sector. This is particularly important for nurse academics given the profession's later entry into academia, the ageing nursing workforce and the continuing global shortage of nurses. Design A qualitative systematic review. Methods Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, Medline, ERIC, Professional Development Collection and Google Scholar databases were searched; resulting in the inclusion of nine qualitative nurse-only focussed studies published between 2004 and 2014. The studies were critically appraised and the data thematically analysed. Results Three abilities were identified as important to the early career academic nurse: a willingness to adapt to change, an intention to pursue support and embodying resilience. These abilities give rise to attributes that are recommended as key to successful academic career development for those employed on a continuing academic basis. Conclusions The capacity to rely on one's own capabilities is becoming seen as increasingly important. It is proposed that recognition of these attributes, their skilful application and monitoring outlined in the review are recommended for a successful career in academia

Developing a gender-based approach to chronic conditions and women's health: A qualitative investigation of communitydwelling women and service provider perspectives

© 2015 DiGiacomo et al. Background: Chronic conditions contribute to over 70 % of Australia's total disease burden, and this is set to increase to 80 % by 2020. Women's greater longevity means that they are more likely than men to live with disability and have unique health concerns related to their gender based roles in society. Cultural and social issues can impact on women's health and are important to consider in health services planning and research. In this study, we aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to providing a gender-based approach to chronic conditions and women's health in an eastern metropolitan region of Australia. Methods: Focus groups were used to engage both community-dwelling women who had chronic conditions and relevant professional stakeholders in the target area. Recorded proceedings underwent thematic analysis. Results: Five focus groups were conducted with professional stakeholders and women community members in February and March 2014. Resultant themes included: women's disempowerment through interactions with health systems; social and economic constraints and caregiving roles act to exclude women from participating in self-care and society; and empowerment can be achieved through integrated models of care that facilitate voice and enable communication and engagement. Conclusions: This study underscores the importance of including perspectives of sex and gender in health care services planning. Tailoring services to socio-demographic and cultural groups is critical in promoting access to health care services. Unique epidemiological trends, particularly the ageing of women and new migrant groups, require particular attention

Meditation and secondary prevention of depression and anxiety in heart disease: A systematic review

Heart disease is the leading cause of global mortality, accounting for 13.7 million deaths annually. Optimising depression and anxiety symptoms in adults with heart disease is an international priority. Heart disease secondary prevention is best achieved through implementation of sustainable pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, including meditation. Meditation is a means of generating self-awareness and has implications for enhanced self-management of depression and anxiety symptoms. This review aims to identify high-level quantitative evidence for meditation interventions designed to improve depression and/or anxiety symptoms among adults with heart disease and ascertain the most important elements of meditation interventions that facilitate positive depression and/or anxiety outcomes. This systematic review and narrative synthesis was completed in accordance with the PRISMA Statement and has adhered to the Cochrane Risk of Bias guideline. Six databases were searched between 1975 and 2017. Statistically significant outcomes were demonstrated in over half (5/9) of phase II meditation studies for depression and/or anxiety and involved 477 participants. Meditation interventions that generated positive outcomes for depression and/or anxiety included elements such as focused attention to body parts (or body scan) (3/4 studies) and/or group meetings (4/5 studies). Meditation is a means of reframing heart disease outpatient services towards an integrated model of care. Future adequately powered phase III studies are needed to confirm which meditation elements are associated with reductions in depression and anxiety; and the differential effects between concentrative and mindfulness-based meditation types among adults with heart disease

Disease management interventions for improving self-management in lower-limb peripheral arterial disease

The objective of this review is to systematically review, synthesise and quantify the effects of non-pharmacological and non-surgical chronic disease management interventions targeting self-management for people with lower-limb PAD

Synthesis and AT1 affinity evaluation of benzamidophenyl analogs of known AT1 receptor ligands with similar aromatic skeleton

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Diquark and triquark correlations in the deconfined phase of QCD

We use the non-perturbative Q\bar Q potential at finite temperatures derived in the Field Correlator Method to obtain binding energies for the lowest eigenstates in the Q\bar Q and QQQ systems (Q=c,b). The three--quark problem is solved by the hyperspherical method. The solution provides an estimate of the melting temperature and the radii for the different diquark and triquark bound states. In particular we find that J/\psi and $ccc$ ground states survive up to T \sim 1.3 T_c, where T_c is the critical temperature, while the corresponding bottomonium states survive even up to higher temperature, T \sim 2.2 T_c.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure; published versio

Use of Six Sigma Techniques in Gas Seal Panel Troubleshooting and Seal Failure Analysis

Case Stud

Improving evidence based practice in postgraduate nursing programs: A systematic review: Bridging the evidence practice gap (BRIDGE project)

© 2018 Background: The nursing profession has a significant evidence to practice gap in an increasingly complex and dynamic health care environment. Objective(s): To evaluate effectiveness of teaching and learning strategies related to a capstone project within a Masters of Nursing program that encourage the development of evidence based practice capabilities. Design: Systematic review that conforms to the PRISMA statement. Sample: Master's Nursing programs that include elements of a capstone project within a university setting. Data Sources/Review Methods: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, ERIC and PsycInfo were used to search for RCT's or quasi experimental studies conducted between 1979 and 9 June 2017, published in a peer reviewed journal in English. Results: Of 1592 studies, no RCT's specifically addressed the development of evidence based practice capabilities within the university teaching environment. Five quasi-experimental studies integrated blended learning, guided design processes, small group work, role play and structured debate into Masters of Nursing research courses. All five studies demonstrated some improvements in evidence based practice skills and/or research knowledge translation, with three out of five studies demonstrating significant improvements. Conclusions: There is a paucity of empirical evidence supporting the best strategies to use in developing evidence based practice skills and/or research knowledge translation skills for Master's Nursing students. As a profession, nursing requires methodologically robust studies that are discipline specific to identify the best approaches for developing evidence-based practice skills and/or research knowledge translation skills within the university teaching environment. Provision of these strategies will enable the nursing profession to integrate the best empirical evidence into nursing practice