242 research outputs found
Graduate Learning Communities: Transforming Educators
Quantitative data collected from graduates of the Southwest Minnesota State University Master of Science in Education program examined the impact of the learning environment, the role of the facilitator, and their professional development. The results showcased the success of the learning community model in facilitating personal and professional growth and transformation. Essential elements of the program include: best practices, learning environment, effective teaching strategies, research-based decision making, scaffolding, peer collaboration, learning community philosophy, professional growth, empowerment, reflective practitioner, inquiry, and transformational leader (change agent). The data collected from student surveys over a five-year period indicated a high level of impact on their empowerment and transformational practices
Re: Investigating the impact of financial concerns on symptoms of depression in UK healthcare workers: data from the UK-REACH nationwide cohort study
This editorial comments on the paper by Martin McBride and the UK REACH team (published in 2023) investigating financial concerns in UK healthcare workers and depressive symptoms. The research concludes that reporting future financial concerns at baseline increased the odds of depressive symptoms at follow-up around 18 months later. We discuss these findings in the context of the cost-of-living crisis and pay disputes within the NHS, important policy implications and directions for future research
Multi-epoch Analysis of Pulse Shapes from the Neutron Star SAX J1808.4-3658
The pulse shapes detected during multiple outbursts of SAX J1808 are analyzed
in order to constrain the neutron star's mass and radius. We use a hot-spot
model with a small scattered-light component to jointly fit data from two
different epochs, under the restriction that the star's mass and radius and the
binary's inclination do not change from epoch to epoch. All other parameters
describing the spot location, emissivity, and relative fractions of blackbody
to Comptonized radiation are allowed to vary with time. The joint fit of data
from the 1998 "slow decay" and the 2002 "end of outburst maximum" epochs using
the constraint i<90 degrees leads to the 3 sigma confidence constraint on the
neutron star mass 0.8 M_sun < M < 1.7 M_sun and equatorial radius 5 km < R < 13
km. Inclinations as low as 41 degrees are allowed. The best-fit models with M >
1.0 M_sun from joint fits of the 1998 data with data from other epochs of the
2002 and 2005 outbursts also fall within the same 3 sigma confidence region.
This 3 sigma confidence region allows a wide variety of hadronic equations of
state, in contrast with an earlier analysis (Leahy et al 2008) of only the 1998
outburst data that only allowed for extremely small stars.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted by ApJ. This revised version includes
an expanded Section
Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and common mental disorders in health-care workers in England during the COVID-19 pandemic:a two-phase cross-sectional study
Neutrophil L-plastin controls ocular paucibacteriality and susceptibility to keratitis
Why ocular mucosa is paucibacterial is unknown. Many different mechanisms have been suggested but the comprehensive experimental studies are sparse. We found that a deficiency in L-plastin (LCP1), an actin bundling protein, resulted in an ocular commensal overgrowth, characterized with increased presence of conjunctiva
Measuring the neutron star equation of state using X-ray timing
One of the primary science goals of the next generation of hard X-ray timing
instruments is to determine the equation of state of the matter at supranuclear
densities inside neutron stars, by measuring the radius of neutron stars with
different masses to accuracies of a few percent. Three main techniques can be
used to achieve this goal. The first involves waveform modelling. The flux we
observe from a hotspot on the neutron star surface offset from the rotational
pole will be modulated by the star's rotation, giving rise to a pulsation.
Information about mass and radius is encoded into the pulse profile via
relativistic effects, and tight constraints on mass and radius can be obtained.
The second technique involves characterising the spin distribution of accreting
neutron stars. The most rapidly rotating stars provide a very clean constraint,
since the mass-shedding limit is a function of mass and radius. However the
overall spin distribution also provides a guide to the torque mechanisms in
operation and the moment of inertia, both of which can depend sensitively on
dense matter physics. The third technique is to search for quasi-periodic
oscillations in X-ray flux associated with global seismic vibrations of
magnetars (the most highly magnetized neutron stars), triggered by magnetic
explosions. The vibrational frequencies depend on stellar parameters including
the dense matter equation of state. We illustrate how these complementary X-ray
timing techniques can be used to constrain the dense matter equation of state,
and discuss the results that might be expected from a 10m instrument. We
also discuss how the results from such a facility would compare to other
astronomical investigations of neutron star properties. [Modified for arXiv]Comment: To appear in Reviews of Modern Physics as a Colloquium, 23 pages, 9
figure
Moral injury and psychological wellbeing in UK healthcare staff
BACKGROUND: Potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) can negatively impact mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic may have placed healthcare staff at risk of moral injury. AIM: To examine the impact of PMIE on healthcare staff wellbeing. METHODS: Twelve thousand nine hundred and sixty-five healthcare staff (clinical and non-clinical) were recruited from 18 NHS-England trusts into a survey of PMIE exposure and wellbeing. RESULTS: PMIEs were significantly associated with adverse mental health symptoms across healthcare staff. Specific work factors were significantly associated with experiences of moral injury, including being redeployed, lack of PPE, and having a colleague die of COVID-19. Nurses who reported symptoms of mental disorders were more likely to report all forms of PMIEs than those without symptoms (AOR 2.7; 95% CI 2.2, 3.3). Doctors who reported symptoms were only more likely to report betrayal events, such as breach of trust by colleagues (AOR 2.7, 95% CI 1.5, 4.9). CONCLUSION: A considerable proportion of NHS healthcare staff in both clinical and non-clinical roles report exposure to PMIEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prospective research is needed to identify the direction of causation between moral injury and mental disorder as well as continuing to monitor the longer term outcomes of exposure to PMIEs
Constraints on the Mass and Radius of the Neutron Star XTE J1807-294
The accreting millisecond pulsar XTE J1807-294 is studied through a pulse
shape modeling analysis. The model includes blackbody and Comptonized emission
from the one visible hot spot and makes use of the Oblate Schwarzschild
approximation for ray-tracing. We include a scattered light contribution, which
accounts for flux scattered off an equatorial accretion disk to the observer
including time delays in the scattered light. We give limits to mass and radius
for XTE J1807-294 and compare to limits determined for SAX J1808-3658 and XTE
J1814-334 previously determined using similar methods. The resulting allowed
region for mass-radius curves is small but is consistent with a mass-radius
relation with nearly constant radius (~12 km) for masses between 1 and 2.5
solar masses.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
- …