Public Participation in Risk Management Decisions: The Right to Define, The Right to Know and the Right to Act

It is important to solicit public opinions before making decisions about Risk, but this is seen as only a first step. The author observes that it is also important that the public be involved in defining the problem, identifying needed information, interpreting information, and choosing among the options for action

The Regional Dimension of Industrial Policy and Performance in the Republic of Ireland

From its inception in the late 1940s, Irish industrial policy has attempted to disperse industrial plants across regions, thereby avoiding the problem of rural-urban migration experienced by many developing countries. Analysing a large sample of companies which established in Ireland in the early 1980s, we examine whether the survival rates of companies and jobs are lower in peripheral compared with core regions, and whether indigenous and foreign companies differ in this regard. We find higher (lower) company and job survival rates for indigenous (foreign) companies at the core than at the periphery.

Use of the CAMEO II Acuity Tool to Decrease Burnout for Nurses Working in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported registered nurse burnout is an occupational hazard resulting in serious consequences for patients, healthcare organizations, and individual registered nurses (Woo et al., 2020). The purpose of this project was to see if the Complexity Assessment and Monitoring to Ensure Optimal Outcomes II (CAMEO II) Acuity Tool, used as an intervention for staffing and scheduling, would have a positive effect against nurse burnout in a pediatric critical care setting in a pediatric medical center. Maslach’s Burnout Inventory- Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel (MBI-HSSMP) was used as a pre- and postsurvey to measure the emotional exhaustion, reduced personal accomplishment, and depersonalization of registered nurses before and after the use of the CAMEO II Acuity Tool. The initial results from the MBI-HSSMP presurvey were alarming, showing evidence of chronic nurse burnout. While the CAMEO II Acuity Tool was exhausting to use, the results of its implementation into the scheduling of registered nurses had a positive outcome following the results of the MBI-HSSMP postsurvey. Key recommendations for the organization and its leaders were the continued use of a modified acuity tool for its departments and continued research on other factors affecting registered nurse burnout

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in outcome selection in breast cancer and nephrology trials

Acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge our PPI colleagues on Twitter who read and commented on our work, helping bring the importance of PPI in clinical trials to the fore. Funding There was no direct funding received for this research. The HRB CRF-C at UCC facilitated the placement of an undergraduate BSc Public Health Sciences student, CB, who led this study under supervision. The HRB Clinical Research Facility receives core funding from the Health Research Board, Ireland, and matched funding from University College Cork. The Health Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, receives core funding from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Intrauterine temperatures of mares under different management conditions

The objective of this study was to determine whether exercise-induced hyperthermia results in an increase in uterine temperature, as measured by an iButton temperature-measurement device inserted into the uterus, comparable to temperatures measured by a rectal thermometer or microchip with temperature-recording capability implanted in the neck. The 3 methods of measurement were examined under 4 different management conditions. The Control-pasture (Cont P) group was maintained in a pasture without man-made shelter, with the intent to measure effects of ambient temperature. The Control- No device (Cont N) group was under the same management conditions, but did not have intrauterine temperature measurement devices implanted. The Control-stall (Cont S) group was housed in individual stalls with fans in an effort to minimize the effect of environmental temperature. The Exercise (EXE) group was also housed in stalls with fans, similar to Cont S but was also subjected to 45 min of exercise each day. The results of this study indicate that the 3 methods of temperature measurement are equally repeatable when evaluating temperatures during exercise (P<0.001). Among the treatment groups, rectal temperatures were lowest in the Cont N and Cont P groups (P<0.05). In contrast, for both the microchip and iButton data, the mares in Cont S and EXE had the lowest core temperatures (P<0.001), indicating that horses under this management type underwent the least amount of heat stress as indicated by core temperature. While rectal temperatures did not show a diurnal effect, both core temperatures (microchip and iButton) showed significant differences between times (P<0.05 and P<0.005, respectively), demonstrating a diurnal temperature effect

Use of Nanofibers to Strengthen Hydrogels of Silica, Other Oxides, and Aerogels

Research has shown that including up to 5 percent w/w carbon nanofibers in a silica backbone of polymer crosslinked aerogels improves its strength, tripling compressive modulus and increasing tensile stress-at-break five-fold with no increase in density or decrease in porosity. In addition, the initial silica hydrogels, which are produced as a first step in manufacturing the aerogels, can be quite fragile and difficult to handle before cross-linking. The addition of the carbon nanofiber also improves the strength of the initial hydrogels before cross-linking, improving the manufacturing process. This can also be extended to other oxide aerogels, such as alumina or aluminosilicates, and other nanofiber types, such as silicon carbide

Learning hand in hand: Engaging in research-practice partnerships to advance developmental science.

Developmental science research often involves research questions developed by academic teams, which are tested within community or educational settings. In this piece, we outline the importance of research-practice partnerships, which involve both research and practice-based partners collaborating at each stage of the research process. We articulate challenges and benefits of these partnerships for developmental science research, identify relevant research frameworks that may inform these partnerships, and provide an example of an ongoing research-practice partnership

Interest and learning in informal science learning sites: Differences in experiences with different types of educators.

This study explored topic interest, perceived learning and actual recall of exhibit content in 979 children and adolescents and 1,184 adults who visited informal science learning sites and interacted with an adult or youth educator or just the exhibit itself as part of family visits to the sites. Children in early childhood reported greater topic interest and perceived learning, but actually recalled less content, than participants in middle childhood or adolescence. Youth visitors reported greater interest after interacting with a youth educator than just the exhibit, and perceived that they learn more if they interact with an educator (youth or adult). Participants in middle childhood recall more when they encounter a youth educator. Adult visitors reported greater interest after interaction with a youth educator than with the exhibit alone or an adult educator. They also perceived that they learn more if they interact with an educator (youth or adult) than just the exhibit and perceived that they learned more if they interacted with a youth educator than an adult educator. Results highlight the benefits of educators in informal science learning sites and document the importance of attention to developmental needs