Does Your Provider Care: A Mixed Methods Study of Empathy in Medical and Graduate Counseling Students

Undergraduate Applie

Matching Methods for Causal Inference: A Review and a Look Forward

When estimating causal effects using observational data, it is desirable to replicate a randomized experiment as closely as possible by obtaining treated and control groups with similar covariate distributions. This goal can often be achieved by choosing well-matched samples of the original treated and control groups, thereby reducing bias due to the covariates. Since the 1970s, work on matching methods has examined how to best choose treated and control subjects for comparison. Matching methods are gaining popularity in fields such as economics, epidemiology, medicine and political science. However, until now the literature and related advice has been scattered across disciplines. Researchers who are interested in using matching methods---or developing methods related to matching---do not have a single place to turn to learn about past and current research. This paper provides a structure for thinking about matching methods and guidance on their use, coalescing the existing research (both old and new) and providing a summary of where the literature on matching methods is now and where it should be headed.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/09-STS313 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

A study of the seed of Apium graveolens Linn: With special reference to the effect of light, temperature, disinfectants, and other factors upon germination.

A Study of the Seed of Apium graveolens Linn. With Special Reference to the Effect of Light, Temperature Disinfectants, and other Factors upon Germination

A Study of an Uncharacterized Penicillium Species Isolated from a HYPERSALINE Pond in San Salvador, Bahamas

A large number of facultative marine fungi are unexplored (Lai et al., 2007). They exist in the hypersaline environment with reduced growth and metabolism for an indeterminable period of time and are believed to have no ecological role. Here we report the discovery of one novel facultative Penicillium species that we named Penicillium virginium. We show that when transferred from its native ecosystem, a salt pond in San Salvador, Bahamas, to a laboratory fungal growth medium, Penicillium virginium demonstrates a higher growth rate in absence of salt than in presence of salt confirming that it is a facultative marine fungus. In an interaction experiment when Penicillium virginium was grown in a salt-free environment together with a known terrestrial saprophytic fungal pathogen model Aspergillus parasiticus, Penicillium virginium inhibited Aspergillus’ growth and metabolism. We show that this inhibition was caused by bioactive compounds released into the growth medium that were not only inhibitory to Aspergillus’ growth and metabolism, but also prevented growth of gram-positive bacteria including the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Our results therefore refute the current notion on the ecological role of the facultative marine fungi and implicate that in the current context of global climate change and severe weather events that can result in drastic drops in salinity of coastal waters and redistribution of marine microbes to habitats that support fungal growth, the bioactive potential of these fungi need to be thoroughly investigated

Self-care Practices of Baccalaureate Nursing Students and Nursing Faculty

Existing research describes that nursing students report having significant stress and feelings of burnout during their nursing education program related to the academic rigor of nursing education, classroom and clinical learning experiences, high expectations, fear of hurting patients, exhaustion, and being placed in the caregiver role. Research also indicates that nursing faculty report stress as being a primary concern and that it can be related to work, family, personal health, or financial concerns. Stress negatively impacts the ability of nursing students and faculty to engage in self-care practices. This study was conducted to learn more about the self-care practices that nursing students and nursing faculty currently engage in and the self-care practices that nursing students and nursing faculty would like to improve in order to adequately care for themselves and others in their clinical and academic practice. Nursing students and nursing faculty at a women’s university completed an anonymous online survey based on Dossey and Keegan’s Circle of Human Potential assessment (2009) to identify their current and desired engagement with self-care practices. Findings indicate that both nursing students and faculty are interested in increasing their self-care practices, specifically related to the area of choices. Based on study findings, recommendations are offered for education, practice, and further research. As patient care becomes more complex and registered nurses are expected to practice to their full scope of practice, nursing students, nursing faculty, and nurses are challenged to prioritize and integrate self-care practices as a professional and ethical responsibility to promote safe and competent patient care