A critical race analysis of structural and institutional racism: rethinking overseas registered nurses' recruitment to and working conditions in the United Kingdom

Language tests for overseas registered nurses (ORN) working outside their home country are essential for patient safety, as communication competency needs to be established in any workforce. We argue that the current employment of existing language tests is structurally and institutionally racist and disadvantages ORNs from non‐European Union (EU) and non‐White countries seeking to work in the United Kingdom. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT), we argue that existing English language tests for ORNs seeking registration in the United Kingdom are discriminatory due to the UK's racist migration policies and a regulatory body for nursing and midwifery that fails to acknowledge and understand its own institutionally racist practices

Chemical Composition of Emissions from Urban Sources of Fine Organic Aerosol

A dilution source sampling system was used to collect primary fine aerosol emissions from important sources of urban organic aerosol, including a boiler burning No. 2 fuel oil, a home fireplace, a fleet of catalyst-equipped and noncatalyst automobiles, heavy-duty diesel trucks, natural gas home appliances, and meat cooking operations. Alternative dilution sampling techniques were used to collect emissions from cigarette smoking and a roofing tar pot, and grab sample techniques were employed to characterize paved road dust, brake lining wear, tire wear, and vegetative detritus. Organic aerosol constituted the majority of the fine aerosol mass emitted from many of the sources tested. Fine primary organic aerosol emissions within the heavily urbanized western portion of the Los Angeles Basin were determined to total 29.8 metric tons/day. Over 40% of these organic aerosol emissions are from anthropogenic pollution sources that are expected to emit contemporary (nonfossil) aerosol carbon, in good agreement with the available ambient monitoring data

Drug Shortages: The Problem Of Inadequate Profits

Drug shortages are a growing problem in the United States. The scope and severity of drug shortages has caught the public eye and prodded the FDA into action. Among the potential causes of drug shortages are Medicare Part B reimbursement policies, the 340B federal drug rebate program, market consolidation and competition in the pharmaceutical industry, regulatory overreach by the FDA and manufacturing and supply problems at production plants. What these causes have in common is that they can all be understood as dampening profits for manufacturers in one way or another. Some causes effectively impose price caps which prevent manufacturers from charging a free-market price for their products. Other causes create cost floors which stymie cost-cutting efforts by manufacturers. Whether by elevating costs or reducing prices, these contributors dampen profits, and without profits, incentives to produce evaporate. Pulling these conclusions together, it becomes clear that the best approach to drug shortages is to make drug manufacture more attractive by removing price caps and reducing cost floors. Whether through tax subsidies, Medicare Part B and 340B drug rebate reform, or relaxed regulatory requirements, the most promising approach is one that makes drug manufacture more profitable

Archives of thrill: the V-Armchair experience

Technology for older people is typically concerned either with health care or accessibility of existing systems. In this paper we take a more ‘entertainment-oriented’ approach to developing experiences aimed at older users. We describe here the design, development and a user study of the V-Armchair, a virtual reality and motion platform based roller coaster experience. The V-Armchair constitutes a blueprint for the digital archiving of physical ride experiences through the simultaneous capture of 360 video, sound and motion. It gives access to thrill experiences to those who may not be able to go on real thrill rides, such as older riders, and it can be considered as a class of technology that could help to support ‘active aging’ as defined by the World Health Organisation. We discuss strategies for capturing and then ‘toning down’ motion experiences to make them accessible for older users. We present a study which explores the user experience of the V-Armchair with an older group (median age 63) using a DK2 headset, and a younger group (median age 25) using a CV1 headset, via thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and a modified version of the Game Experience Questionnaire, and discuss emergent themes such as the role of the presenter, reminiscence, presence and immersion

Fibroid explants reveal a higher sensitivity against MDM2-inhibitor nutlin-3 than matching myometrium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Spontaneous cessation of growth is a frequent finding in uterine fibroids. Increasing evidence suggests an important role of cellular senescence in this growth control. Deciphering the underlying mechanisms of growth control that can be expected not only to shed light on the biology of the tumors but also to identify novel therapeutic targets.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We have analyzed uterine leiomyomas and matching normal tissue for the expression of p14^Arfand used explants to see if reducing the MDM2 activity using the small-molecule inhibitor nutlin-3 can induce p53 and activate genes involved in senescence and/or apoptosis. For these studies quantitative real-time RT-PCR, Western blots, and immunohistochemistry were used. Statistical analyses were performed using the student's <it>t </it>test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An in depth analysis of 52 fibroids along with matching myometrium from 31 patients revealed in almost all cases a higher expression of p14^Arfin the tumors than in the matching normal tissue. In tissue explants, treatment with the MDM2 inhibitor nutlin-3 induced apoptosis as well as senescence as revealed by a dose-dependent increase of the expression of <it>BAX </it>as well as of <it>p21</it>, respectively. Simultaneously, the expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67 drastically decreased. Western-blot analysis identified an increase of the p53 level as the most likely reason for the increased activity of its downstream markers <it>BAX </it>and <it>p21</it>. Because as a rule fibroids express much higher levels of p14^Arf, a major negative regulator of MDM2, than matching myometrium it was then analyzed if fibroids are more sensitive against nutlin-3 treatment than matching myometrium. We were able to show that in most fibroids analyzed a higher sensibility than that of matching myometrium was noted with a corresponding increase of the p53 immunopositivity of the fibroid samples compared to those from myometrium.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results show that uterine fibroids represent a cell population of advanced cellular age compared to matching myometrium. Moreover, the data point to members of the p53-network as to potential novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of uterine fibroids.</p

Tornado Climatology of Turkey

ABSTRACT A climatology of tornadoes in Turkey is presented using records from a wide variety of sources (e.g., the Turkish State Meteorological Service, European Severe Weather Database, newspaper archives, Internet searches, etc.). The climatology includes the annual, diurnal, geographical, and intensity distributions of both mesocyclonic and nonmesocyclonic tornadoes. From 1818 to 2013, 385 tornado cases were obtained. The tornadoes range from F0 to F3, with F1 being the most frequently reported or inferred intensity. Mesocyclonic tornadoes are most likely in May and June, and a secondary maximum in frequency is present in October and November. Nonmesocyclonic tornadoes (waterspouts) are most common in the winter along the (southern) Mediterranean coast and in the fall along the Black Sea (northern) coast. Tornadoes (both mesocyclonic and nonmesocyclonic) are most likely in the afternoon and early evening hours

Balance of Polarization in a Hybrid Fiber Optic Sensor

This paper presents the eect of light polarization in a hybrid ber optic sensor. The hybrid sensor is dened as a combination of interferometer sensor and modalmetric sensor. Hybrid sensor system is based on the eect of outputting interferometric sensor of interference as a result of changes made by the modalmetric system. Balance of polarization in the arms of classical interferometer sensor leads to improvement of contrast of interference pattern at the output of the interferometer. Aim of this study is to present a balance light polarization eects in a hybrid system