Attitude Towards Research among Undergraduate Nursing Students

Background: This study investigated undergraduate nursing students’ attitude towards research. It has been shown in numerous studies that there exists a negative attitude towards research among undergraduate students and this attitude acts as a barrier. This negative attitude affects the willingness and efforts of students to excel in a research course. Methods: A 15-item pre and post-test questionnaire was administered to undergraduate nursing students to identify the factors that may have an effect on their attitude towards research. The Georgia Southern University Institutional Review Board approved the study. Statistical analysis was performed using paired sample t-test and IBM SPSS 23.0. Results: Factors that affected students’ attitude towards research included ‘anticipatory anxiety taking a research course’ (p=0.005), ‘glad that research course was over’ (p=0.009), and ‘research is a boring field’ (p=0.040) were significant at the alpha=0.05. However, students recognized the usefulness of research to their professional career (p=0.004) and indicated the importance of attending their research classes (p=0.039). Conclusions: With the drive to make a doctorate in nursing the entry level for advanced nursing practice, changing the mindset of undergraduate nursing students towards research is essential. Therefore, the selection of teaching methods and the development of content to promote student engagement can make a difference in students’ attitudes toward undergraduate research and optimize learning outcomes

Geographic Modelling of Sickle cell Trait in four US Regions

Background: Many studies have been done concerning the prevalence of sickle cell trait, its incidence and screening techniques. It is most commonly observed in the Black and Hispanic population in the United States. This study used retrospective data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR – December 12, 2014) to model, analyze, and substantiate the geographic distribution of sickle cell trait, its incidence, prevalence and screening in 44 states divided into 4 regions in the United States. Methods: We conducted data modelling of geographic regions in the United States. The four regions were West, Midwest, South and Northeast. The research question was: How is screening rate related to sickle cell trait in the regions of the United States? The data were pooled in an Excel file and analyzed using linear regression and generalized linear modelling in SAS 9.4. Results: The results showed that (1) there is a significant relationship between incidence and the number of infants screened for region 2 (Midwest), p=0.0020; (2) a significant relationship between incidence and sickle cell trait for region 2 (Midwest), p=0.000; (3) incidence with screening and trait for region 1 (West), region 2 (Midwest) and region 3 (South), p Conclusions: Findings indicate that more screening is needed to diagnose sickle cell trait, particularly among Black and Hispanic infants from the region 2 (Midwest) states. There should be more intervention programs implemented to promote early screening among newborns to reduce disparities and the burden of prevalence

Un nouvel outil d'évaluation environnementale à l'appui des politiques de développement durable des collectivités : appropriation de l'Analyse du Cycle de Vie par les services d'assainissement

National audienceAmong the broad range of environmental assessment tools available, life cycle analysis (LCA) is shown to be the only scientific method that quantifies environmental impacts and pollution transfers. The LCA 4E tool developed for public sanitation services, has been tested in pilot cities and a research intervention was conducted in order to observe to appropriation of this new tool.In our paper, we show that the LCA 4E tool has aroused the interest of local actors but interpreting and analyzing LCA results is still difficult for non-experts.Moreover, in a context where technical choices are dominated by traditional decision criteria (regulatory, technical and economical), LCA impact on environment conceptions and strategic decision is a challenge in itself. Nevertheless, in water policy governance contexts where there is a leader actor for sustainable development and where the size of the organization helps manage new tools, LCA gives weight to environmental arguments. It also can be used to argue for certain technical choices with external partners.Parmi les nombreux outils d'évaluation environnementale qui existent, l'Analyse du cycle de vie (ACV) est présentée comme la seule méthode qui fournit une quantification scientifiquement étayée des impacts environnementaux et des transferts de pollutions. L'outil ACV 4E développé dans ce sens pour les services publics d'assainissement a fait l'objet d'un test expérimental au sein de collectivités locales pilotes et une recherche-intervention a été conduite pour observer l'appropriation de ce nouvel outil par les acteurs. C'est ce qu'aborde notre papier qui montre que si l'intérêt des acteurs pour cette nouvelle méthode d'évaluation environnementale est réel, l'interprétation et l'analyse des résultats d'une ACV restent difficiles pour des non-spécialistes. Dans un contexte par ailleurs où les choix techniques sont dominés par les critères classiques de décision (réglementaires, techniques et financiers), l'impact de l'ACV sur les conceptions de l'environnement et la prise de décision stratégique reste un défi. Néanmoins, dans les contextes de gouvernance des politiques de l'eau faisant intervenir des acteurs porteurs du développement durable et dans les collectivités locales où la taille facilite la prise en charge d'outils nouveaux, l'ACV donne plus de poids aux arguments environnementaux. Elle pourrait aussi servir à argumenter certains choix vis-à-vis des partenaires externes

Health Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease and High Blood Pressure Among Adults in Rural Underserved Communities

Purpose: This study examined the factors contributing to health disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and high blood pressure (HBP) among adults in three rural underserved communities in southeast Georgia. Socioeconomic status as well as geographic location plays a significant role in one’s quality of health outcomes. Methods: Individuals in three counties in southern Georgia participated in the study. The study was motivated by review of retrospective data from the 2008 Georgia Cardiovascular Health Initiative (CVHI) database to explain the factors contributing to the incidence of health disparities. A survey questionnaire was administered by telephone to adult members of households to determine the incidence of health disparities in CVD and HBP among rural African American and White adult populations. Six hundred respondents participated in the survey but four hundred completed surveys were used in the study, yielding a 67% response rate. Data were analyzed using applied multivariate logistic analysis. Findings: Findings indicated that older men and male residents in Counties A and B regardless of racial background were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with both HBP and CVD. College educated women were significantly less likely to have HBP. Findings also revealed that married men were significantly less likely to have CVD. Uncontrolled elevated cholesterol levels contributed to the incidence of chronic HBP and CVD. Conclusions: The findings add to the current knowledge of research and to the understanding of the critical elements in reducing health disparities among populations in rural underserved communities

Anharmonic stacking in supercoiled DNA

Multistep denaturation in a short circular DNA molecule is analyzed by a mesoscopic Hamiltonian model which accounts for the helicoidal geometry. Computation of melting profiles by the path integral method suggests that stacking anharmonicity stabilizes the double helix against thermal disruption of the hydrogen bonds. Twisting is essential in the model to capture the importance of nonlinear effects on the thermodynamical properties. In a ladder model with zero twist, anharmonic stacking scarcely affects the thermodynamics. Moderately untwisted helices, with respect to the equilibrium conformation, show an energetic advantage against the overtwisted ones. Accordingly moderately untwisted helices better sustain local fluctuational openings and make more unlikely the thermally driven complete strand separation.Comment: In pres

Base pair opening and bubble transport in a DNA double helix induced by a protein molecule in a viscous medium

We study the nonlinear dynamics of a protein-DNA molecular system by treating DNA as a set of two coupled linear chains and protein in the form of a single linear chain sliding along the DNA at the physiological temperature in a viscous medium. The nonlinear dynamics of the above molecular system in general is governed by a perturbed nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation. In the non-viscous limit, the equation reduces to the completely integrable nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger (NLS) equation which admits N-soliton solutions. The soliton excitations of the DNA bases make localized base pair opening and travel along the DNA chain in the form of a bubble. This may represent the bubble generated during the transcription process when an RNA-polymerase binds to a promoter site in the DNA double helical chain. The perturbed NLS equation is solved using a perturbation theory by treating the viscous effect due to surrounding as a weak perturbation and the results show that the viscosity of the solvent in the surrounding damps out the amplitude of the soliton.Comment: 4. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Caractérisation socio - technico - économique de la pêche artisanale du crocodile Nain africain Osteolaemus tetraspis (Cope, 1861) dans l’arrondissement de Yabassi, Littoral Cameroun

La caractérisation socio - technico - économique de la pêche du crocodile nain Osteolaemus tetraspis a été menée dans l’arrondissement de Yabassi, Région du Littoral – Cameroun, du 21 février au 20 juin 2014. Des observations sur le terrain, des mesures directes et un questionnaire administré à 36 pêcheurs ont permis de collecter les données. Les résultats ont montré que la totalité des acteurs de pêche était constituée des hommes ayant plus de 50 ans d’âge, avec un taux d’alphabétisation de 58% ; 55,56% des enquêtés pratiquent la pêche au crocodile nain et la plupart de leurs produits (77,78%) sont destinés à la vente et à la consommation. Les engins les plus utilisés dans la capture des crocodiles nains sont constitués des pièges et des palangres. Les prix de vente des crocodiles se situent dans la classe [10000 -17500[ FCFA avec 13750 ±11020, 1835 FCFA en moyenne. Le facteur de condition K moyen calculé sur un échantillon de 9 spécimens (longueur totale moyenne 75,22±38,14 cm et de poids total moyen 3594,67±3893,67g) est inférieur à 1 (K = 0,553 ± 0,225). Le coefficient d’allométrie b de la relation poids-longueur est ˃ 3, montrant ainsi une croissance allométrique positive.Mots clés : Osteolaemus tetraspis, espèce menacée, caractérisation, pêche, Cameroun

MesobanK UK: an international mesothelioma bioresource.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma causes the greatest societal burden of all the asbestos-related diseases. Progress in better understanding tumour biology will be facilitated by the availability of quality-assured annotated tissue. MesobanK has been created to establish a bioresource of pleural mesothelioma tissue linked to detailed anonymised clinical data. When complete, the bioresource will comprise a 750-patient tissue microarray and prospectively collected tissue, blood and pleural fluid from 300 patients with mesothelioma. Twenty-six new cell lines have also been developed. MesobanK meets all appropriate ethical and regulatory procedures and has recently opened to requests for tissue and data.RCR and DMR are part funded by the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and the Cambridge Cancer Centre. RCR is also funded by the NIHR Clinical Research Network: Eastern.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from BMJ via http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-20749

The Proximal Peripheral Nervous System Is A Major Site Of Demyelination In Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Induced In The Lewis Rat By A Myelin Basic Protein-Specific T Cell

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in the Lewis rat by the passive transfer of a cytotoxic CD4 + T cell clone specific for the 72-89 peptide of guinea-pig myelin basic protein (MBP). Histological studies on rats with neurological signs showed that inflammation was present in the proximal peripheral nervous system (PNS), namely the spinal roots, as well as in the central nervous system (CNS). The main sites of demyelination were the spinal roots in the PNS, and the spinal cord root entry and exit zones in the CNS. The major involvement of the proximal PNS in autoimmune disease directed at MBP is in marked contrast to EAE induced by immunisation with myelin proteolipid protein, where the inflammation and demyelination are restricted to the CNS. These findings may have implications for the human inflammatory demyelinating diseases including multiple sclerosis, in which MBP is a putative target antigen

Using the stated preference method for the calculation of social discount rate

The aim of this paper is to build the stated preference method into the social discount rate methodology. The first part of the paper presents the results of a survey about stated time preferences through pair-choice decision situations for various topics and time horizons. It is assumed that stated time preferences differ from calculated time preferences and that the extent of stated rates depends on the time period, and on how much respondents are financially and emotionally involved in the transactions. A significant question remains: how can the gap between the calculation and the results of surveys be resolved, and how can the real time preferences of individuals be interpreted using a social time preference rate. The second part of the paper estimates the social time preference rate for Hungary using the results of the survey, while paying special attention to the pure time preference component. The results suggest that the current method of calculation of the pure time preference rate does not reflect the real attitudes of individuals towards future generations