319 research outputs found
The piloting of an Academic Literacy Education Course (ALEC) to improve academic literacy of first semester undergraduate students in a Western Australian University
Widening participation has enabled access to higher education for an increasing number of students via a range of non-traditional pathways. Consequently, whilst having a large repertoire of skills and experience, these students may not have developed sufficient competence in academic literacy. The School of Nursing and Midwifery has a large proportion of such students who have difficulty making the academic transition to university study. It is believed that a âbuilt inâ approach to supporting these students to develop academic literacy will result in an improvement in their abilities to meet the requirements of the University and to better prepare them to graduate. This paper discusses the piloting of an Academic Literary Education Course (ALEC) for undergraduate students enrolled in the first semester unit of a three year health degree, within the disciplines of nursing and paramedical science. The students completed tests on academic literacy before and after completion of the ALEC. Particular areas of difficulty for students were found to be in referencing and unpacking the assessment question. When mean scores were compared between pre and post-tests in the same group, it was found there was a significant difference between scores at t value = -7,721, degrees of freedom = 181 with a p value of 0.000 or p value \u3c .001. Recommendations include incorporating the ALEC approach in further stages of the undergraduate degree program to support developing levels of academic literacy
Comment on âEffects of Arsenite during Fetal Development on Energy Metabolism and Susceptibility to Diet-Induced Fatty Liver Diseases in Male Miceâ and âMechanisms Underlying Latent Disease Risk Associated with Early-Life Arsenic Exposure: Current Trends and Scientific Gapsâ
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Community Structure in Congressional Cosponsorship Networks
We study the United States Congress by constructing networks between Members
of Congress based on the legislation that they cosponsor. Using the concept of
modularity, we identify the community structure of Congressmen, as connected
via sponsorship/cosponsorship of the same legislation, to investigate the
collaborative communities of legislators in both chambers of Congress. This
analysis yields an explicit and conceptually clear measure of political
polarization, demonstrating a sharp increase in partisan polarization which
preceded and then culminated in the 104th Congress (1995-1996), when
Republicans took control of both chambers. Although polarization has since
waned in the U.S. Senate, it remains at historically high levels in the House
of Representatives.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures (some with multiple parts), to appear in Physica
A; additional background info and explanations added from last versio
Ăvaluation des compĂ©tences en laparoscopie : comparaison de la fiabilitĂ© des outils dâĂ©valuation globale et des outils dâĂ©valuation de la confiance
Background: Competence by design (CBD) residency programs increasingly depend on tools that provide reliable assessments, require minimal rater training, and measure progression through the CBD milestones. To assess intraoperative skills, global rating scales and entrustability ratings are commonly used but may require extensive training. The Competency Continuum (CC) is a CBD framework that may be used as an assessment tool to assess laparoscopic skills. The study aimed to compare the CC to two other assessment tools: the Global Operative Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills (GOALS) and the Zwisch scale.
Methods: Four expert surgeons rated thirty laparoscopic cholecystectomy videos. Two raters used the GOALS scale while the remaining two raters used both the Zwisch scale and CC. Each rater received scale-specific training. Descriptive statistics, inter-rater reliabilities (IRR), and Pearsonâs correlations were calculated for each scale.
Results: Significant positive correlations between GOALS and Zwisch (r = 0.75, p < 0.001), CC and GOALS (r = 0.79, p < 0.001), and CC and Zwisch (r = 0.90, p < 0.001) were found. The CC had an inter-rater reliability of 0.74 whereas the GOALS and Zwisch scales had inter-rater reliabilities of 0.44 and 0.43, respectively. Compared to GOALS and Zwisch scales, the CC had the highest inter-rater reliability and required minimal rater training to achieve reliable scores.
Conclusion: The CC may be a reliable tool to assess intraoperative laparoscopic skills and provide trainees with formative feedback relevant to the CBD milestones. Further research should collect further validity evidence for the use of the CC as an independent assessment tool.Contexte : Les programmes de rĂ©sidence structurĂ©s autour de la compĂ©tence par conception (CPC) dĂ©pendent de plus en plus dâoutils qui fournissent des Ă©valuations fiables, nĂ©cessitent une formation minimale des Ă©valuateurs et mesurent la progression dans les Ă©tapes de la CPC. Pour Ă©valuer les compĂ©tences peropĂ©ratoires, les Ă©chelles dâĂ©valuation globale et de confiance sont couramment utilisĂ©es mais peuvent nĂ©cessiter une formation approfondie. Le Continuum des compĂ©tences (CC) est un cadre de la CPC qui peut ĂȘtre utilisĂ© comme outil dâĂ©valuation des compĂ©tences laparoscopiques. LâĂ©tude visait Ă comparer le CC Ă deux autres outils dâĂ©valuation : lâĂ©valuation globale opĂ©ratoire des compĂ©tences laparoscopiques (GOALS) et lâĂ©chelle de Zwisch.
MĂ©thodes : Quatre chirurgiens experts ont Ă©valuĂ© trente vidĂ©os de cholĂ©cystectomie laparoscopique. Deux Ă©valuateurs ont utilisĂ© lâĂ©chelle GOALS tandis que les deux autres ont utilisĂ© lâĂ©chelle Zwisch et le CC. Chacun dâeux avait reçu une formation spĂ©cifique Ă lâĂ©chelle utilisĂ©e. Des statistiques descriptives, la fiabilitĂ© inter-Ă©valuateurs (FIĂ) et des corrĂ©lations de Pearson ont Ă©tĂ© calculĂ©es pour chaque Ă©chelle.
RĂ©sultats : Des corrĂ©lations positives significatives ont Ă©tĂ© trouvĂ©es entre les Ă©chelles GOALS et Zwisch (r=0.75, p<0.001), CC et GOALS (r=0.79, p<0.001), et CC et Zwisch (r=0.90, p<0.001). Le CC avait une fiabilitĂ© inter-Ă©valuateurs de 0,74 tandis que les Ă©chelles GOALS et Zwisch avaient des fiabilitĂ©s inter-Ă©valuateurs de 0,44 et 0,43, respectivement. Par rapport aux Ă©chelles GOALS et Zwisch, le CC avait la fiabilitĂ© inter-Ă©valuateurs la plus Ă©levĂ©e et ne nĂ©cessitait quâune formation minimale des Ă©valuateurs pour obtenir des scores fiables.
Conclusion : Le CC constituerait un outil fiable pour Ă©valuer les compĂ©tences laparoscopiques peropĂ©ratoires et pour fournir aux stagiaires une rĂ©troaction formatrice pertinente pour les Ă©tapes de la CPC. Des recherches supplĂ©mentaires devraient ĂȘtre entreprises pour recueillir plus de preuves de validitĂ© pour lâutilisation du CC comme outil dâĂ©valuation indĂ©pendant
Acceptability and Results of Dementia Screening Among Older Adults in the United States
OBJECTIVES:
To measure older adults acceptability of dementia screening and assess screening test results of a racially diverse sample of older primary care patients in the United States.
DESIGN:
Cross-sectional study of primary care patients aged 65 and older.
SETTING:
Urban and suburban primary care clinics in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2008 to 2009.
PARTICIPANTS:
Nine hundred fifty-four primary care patients without a documented diagnosis of dementia.
MEASUREMENTS:
Community Screening Instrument for Dementia, the Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Telephone Instrument for Cognitive Screening.
RESULTS:
Of the 954 study participants who consented to participate, 748 agreed to be screened for dementia and 206 refused screening. The overall response rate was 78.4%. The positive screen rate of the sample who agreed to screening was 10.2%. After adjusting for demographic differences the following characteristics were still associated with increased likelihood of screening positive for dementia: age, male sex, and lower education. Patients who believed that they had more memory problems than other people of their age were also more likely to screen positive for dementia.
CONCLUSION:
Age and perceived problems with memory are associated with screening positive for dementia in primary care
NGC 4340: Double Bar + Fossil Nuclear Ring
NGC 4340 is a double-barred SB0 galaxy in the Virgo cluster (Wozniak et al.
1995). Here, we present evidence that this galaxy also posseses a luminous
stellar nuclear ring of relatively old stars with little or no gas. The ring
lies just outside the inner bar, at the probable inner inner Lindblad resonance
(IILR) of the outer bar. Careful inspection of the isophotes and unsharp masks
shows that the two bars are slightly misaligned, which suggests they may be
independently rotating.Comment: 1 Page, 1 figure, kluwer.cls needed to complile (included in tar
file) Poster presented at the Granada Euroconference (May, 2000): The
Evolution of Galaxies. I- Observational clue
Systematically searching for and assessing the literature for self-management of chronic pain: a lay usersâ perspective
Background: The Engaging with older adults in the development of strategies for the self management of chronic pain (EOPIC) study aims to design and develop self management strategies to enable older adults to manage their own pain. Involving older adults in research into chronic pain management will better enable the identification and development of strategies that are more appropriate for their use, but how can perspectives really be utilised to the best possible outcomes?
Method: Seven older adults were recruited through a local advertising campaign to take part. We also invited participants from the local pain services, individuals who had been involved in earlier phase of the EOPIC study and a previous ESRC funded project. The group undertook library training and research skills training to facilitate searching of the literature and identified sources of material. A grading tool was developed using perceived essential criteria identified by the older adults and material was graded according to the criteria within this scale.
Results: Fifty-seven resources from over twenty-eight sources were identified. These materials were identified as being easily accessible, readable and relevant. Many of the web based materials were not always easy to find or readily available so they were excluded by the participants. All but one were UK based. Forty-four items were identified as meeting the key criteria for inclusion in the study. This included five key categories as follows; books, internet, magazines, leaflets, CDâs/Tapes.
Conclusion: This project was able to identify a number of exemplars of self management material along with some general rules regarding the categories identified. We must point out that the materials identified were not age specific, were often locally developed and would need to be adapted to older adults with chronic pain. For copyright issues we have not included them in this paper. The key message is really related to the format rather than the content. However, the group acknowledge that these may vary according to the requirements of each individual older adult and therefore recommend the development of a leaflet to help others in their search for resources. This leaflet has been developed as part of Phase IV of the EOPIC study
Antibiotic resistance in the patient with cancer: Escalating challenges and paths forward
Infection is the second leading cause of death in patients with cancer. Loss of efficacy in antibiotics due to antibiotic resistance in bacteria is an urgent threat against the continuing success of cancer therapy. In this review, the authors focus on recent updates on the impact of antibiotic resistance in the cancer setting, particularly on the ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter spp.). This review highlights the health and financial impact of antibiotic resistance in patients with cancer. Furthermore, the authors recommend measures to control the emergence of antibiotic resistance, highlighting the risk factors associated with cancer care. A lack of data in the etiology of infections, specifically in oncology patients in United States, is identified as a concern, and the authors advocate for a centralized and specialized surveillance system for patients with cancer to predict and prevent the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Finding better ways to predict, prevent, and treat antibiotic-resistant infections will have a major positive impact on the care of those with cancer
A Scoping Review of the Effects of Ambient Air Quality on Cognitive Frailty Academic Editors: William A
Environmental and public health research has given considerable attention to the impact of air quality on brain health, with systematic reviews being widespread. No literature review has been conducted for cognitive frailty-a multidimensional syndrome combining physical frailty and cognitive impairment and their apparent co-dependence, linked to increased vulnerability and adverse health outcomes, including dementia. Instead, cognitive decline and frailty are implicitly explored through research on air quality and comorbid cognitive and physical decline in elderly populations. A scoping review was conducted to explore the need for a systematic review. Combining the Arksey and O'Malley, and PRISMA-ScR checklist, a scoping review of SCOPUS using 'cogniti*' + 'resilience' + 'air quality' or 'cogniti*' + 'ageing' + 'air quality' resulted in n = 2503 articles, screened and reduced using inclusion and exclusion criteria, to n = 16 articles. Air quality appears to be a critical risk factor for cognitive decline, even at air quality levels below WHO targets. Moderate long-term ambient air pollution appears linked to increased risk of cognitive frailty, suggesting earlier and more active interventions to protect older people. There are varied effects on cognition across the life course, with both emotional and functional impacts. Effects may be more detrimental to elderly people with existing conditions, including economic and health inequalities. Generalisa-tion of results is limited due to the absence of a dose-response, variations in methods, controlling for comorbid effects, and variance across studies. No literature review has been performed for cog-nitive frailty, largely due to the fact that it is not presently treated as an explicit outcome. The findings support the need for more research and a more extensive summary of the literature but suggest that there is worsening cognitive function over the life course as a result of increased PM2.5 concentrations. Furthermore, air quality appears to be a critical risk factor even at levels below World Health Organisation targets. Keywords: cognitive function; ambient air quality; air pollution and brain health; older adults; cognitive frailty Citation: Hodgson, J.R.; Benkowitz, C.; Castellani, B.C.; Ellison, A.; Yassaie, R.; Twohig, H.; Bhudia, R.; Jutila, O.-E.; Fowler-Davis, S. A Scoping Review of the Effects of Ambient Air Quality on Cognitive Frailty. Environments 2024, 11, 4
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