Yellow fever in the Felicianas: the epidemic of 1878 and its effects upon the residents of these rural parishes

This research documents the spread of yellow fever across the rural Louisiana parishes of East Feliciana and West Feliciana in 1878 and examines the reactions and responses of the residents to medical, social and economic stresses produced by that epidemic. Descriptive details highlight the variability of individual ideas and mindsets at play against the backdrop of accepted paradigms, belief systems and current technology. In 1878 the Aëdes aegypti mosquito had not yet been identified as the vector of the arbovirus (arthropod borne virus) that causes yellow fever. A short history of yellow fever in the United States and a discussion of the vector and the arbovirus are included to clarify the advance of the disease. Quarantines of the towns and villages of the Felicianas prohibited burial of yellow fever victims in community cemeteries and official records for these two rural parishes were rarely available at the parish, state, or federal level. Information was drawn primarily from texts, journals and newspapers of the time. Notations from the 1878 journal of Henry Marston, a resident of Clinton, Louisiana, were invaluable. The advance of yellow fever into East and West Feliciana is outlined from the first reported cases in New Orleans in May of 1878. The records of each parish are examined separately and the information gathered is combined and analyzed

Space resources. Volume 2: Energy, power, and transport

This volume of the Space Resources report covers a number of technical and policy issues concerning the energy and power to carry out advanced space missions and the means of transportation to get to the sites of those missions. Discussed in the first half of this volume are the technologies which might be used to provide power and a variety of ways to convert power from one form to another, store it, move it wherever it is needed, and use it. In the second half of this volume, various kinds of transportation, including both interplanetary and surface systems, are discussed

Space resources. Volume 1: Scenarios

A number of possible future paths for space exploration and development are presented. The topics covered include the following: (1) the baseline program; (2) alternative scenarios utilizing nonterrestrial resources; (3) impacts of sociopolitical conditions; (4) common technologies; and issues for further study

Space resources. Overview

Space resources must be used to support life on the Moon and in the exploration of Mars. Just as the pioneers applied the tools they brought with them to resources they found along the way rather than trying to haul all their needs over a long supply line, so too must space travelers apply their high technology tools to local resources. This overview describes the findings of a study on the use of space resources in the development of future space activities and defines the necessary research and development that must precede the practical utilization of these resources. Space resources considered included lunar soil, oxygen derived from lunar soil, material retrieved from near-Earth asteroids, abundant sunlight, low gravity, and high vacuum. The study participants analyzed the direct use of these resources, the potential demand for products from them, the techniques for retrieving and processing space resources, the necessary infrastructure, and the economic tradeoffs

Space resources. Volume 4: Social concerns

Space resources must be used to support life on the Moon and exploration of Mars. This volume, Social Concerns, covers some of the most important issues which must be addressed in any major program for the human exploration of space. The volume begins with a consideration of the economics and management of large scale space activities. Then the legal aspects of these activities are discussed, particularly the interpretation of treaty law with respect to the Moon and asteroids. The social and cultural issues of moving people into space are considered in detail, and the eventual emergence of a space culture different from the existing culture is envisioned. The environmental issues raised by the development of space settlements are faced. Some innovative approaches are proposed to space communities and habitats and self-sufficiency is considered along with human safety at a lunar base or outpost

A first generation BAC-based physical map of the channel catfish genome

BACKGROUND: Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is the leading species in North American aquaculture. Genetic improvement of catfish is performed through selective breeding, and genomic tools will help improve selection efficiency. A physical map is needed to integrate the genetic map with the karyotype and to support fine mapping of phenotypic trait alleles such as Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) and the effective positional cloning of genes. RESULTS: A genome-wide physical map of the channel catfish was constructed by High-Information-Content Fingerprinting (HICF) of 46,548 Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes (BAC) clones using the SNaPshot technique. The clones were assembled into contigs with FPC software. The resulting assembly contained 1,782 contigs and covered an estimated physical length of 0.93 Gb. The validity of the assembly was demonstrated by 1) anchoring 19 of the largest contigs to the microsatellite linkage map 2) comparing the assembly of a multi-gene family to Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) patterns seen in Southern blots, and 3) contig sequencing. CONCLUSION: This is the first physical map for channel catfish. The HICF technique allowed the project to be finished with a limited amount of human resource in a high throughput manner. This physical map will greatly facilitate the detailed study of many different genomic regions in channel catfish, and the positional cloning of genes controlling economically important production traits

Blood Transfusion Errors within a Health System: A Review of Root Cause Analyses

IntroductionBlood transfusions are lifesaving treatments which require critical attention to processes and details. If processes are not followed, grievous errors can lead to sentinel events. A review of investigations completed due to reported events will show the error trends associated with systems used throughout the blood transfusion process. MethodsThis study employed root cause analyses (RCAs) within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to review the events leading to blood transfusion errors. Data was pulled from the RCA databases within the VA National Center for Patient Safety. The time frame was October 2014 to August 2019. A total of 53 RCAs and aggregated reviews were included in the study. These were reviewed for common themes and gaps present within processes. ResultsThe most common events fell within the categories of incorrect or delayed blood orders, incorrect or lack of patient identification, and wrong blood given. The RCA for each event was reviewed and studied. The RCAs had a crossover of multiple causes; lack of a formal process, communication barriers, and technology barriers were the most frequent. ConclusionThese RCAs express great variation between VHA facilities, such as process created, number of staff reports, and number of RCAs completed. Lack of standard practices nationwide, training barriers, and technology barriers may explain the variation of transfusion errors throughout the VHA. This study brings to light questions about standardization of transfusion protocols. Future study regarding such standardization is necessary to determine its plausibility

Teaching practice experiences of nursing students: a comparison between direct entry and generic students of department of nursing science, University of Calabar

An essential part of the nurse education programs is to facilitate the linking of theory to practice. Teaching practice experiences of nursing student provide greater insight to develop effective classroom and clinical teaching strategies in nursing. This paper described teaching practice experiences of nursing students, expectations and benefits for effective learning. The study simulated the complexities of life in a typical classroom that facilitates learning characterized by an acceptance of responsibility and clinical decision making in nursing practice using a mixed research design. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from 0ne hundred and fifteen (115) students, 38 direct entry and 77 generic fourth year students while ten students (five direct and five generic) participated in the focused group discussion (FGD). Descriptive data were analyzed using SPSS vision 18 to obtain frequencies, percentages mean and standard deviation and chi square findings. The FGD based on their categories were divided into two groups. The data collected was analyzed by coding and categorizing the themes that emerged. Quantitative analysis revealed significant (**p<0.001) chi square rejecting the null hypotheses at 0.05 with probabilities less than 0.001. This shows that nursing students’ experiences, expectations and benefits are significantly derived from teaching practice although contingent on the mode of entry into the university (Direct entry and Generic entry). It is concluded that teaching practice is a motivating and challenging method that necessitates learning of facts, principles and procedures for effective development of decision-making skills that assist nursing students assume responsibility. It is recommended that more time be allotted for this important exercise especially for generic students.KEYWORDS: Nursing Student, Teaching Experiences, Expectation, benefits, Teaching Practic

The Adaptation Challenges and Strategies of Adolescent Aboriginal Athletes Competing Off Reserve

Within the motivation literature, it has been indicated that athletes respond more effectively to sport’s contextual challenges through effective adaptation skills. Fiske identified five core motives as facilitators of the adaptation process across cultures: belonging, understanding, controlling, self-enhancement, and trusting. Through a cultural sport psychology approach, the adaptation challenges and strategies of Canadian Aboriginal adolescent athletes from one community (Wikwemikong) are described as they traveled off reserve to compete in mainstream sporting events. Concurrently, Fiske’s core motives are considered in relation to youth sport participants from the aforementioned Aboriginal community. Culture sensitive research methods among the Wikwemikong, including community meetings, talking circles (TCs), indigenous coding, and coauthoring, were employed in this article. Data are reflected in three themes: (a) challenges pursuing sport outside of the Aboriginal community in advance of bicultural encounters, (b) challenging bicultural encounters in Canadian mainstream sport contexts, and (c) specific responses to racism and discrimination

Influence of Age on Perception of Midwives and Their Performance in Objective Structured Clincial Examination (Osce) in Nigeria

Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is a means of assessing clinical competence based on objective testing through direct observation. OSCE, as a method of evaluation, was introduced in 1990 by the Nursing & Midwifery council of Nigeria (N&MCN). The aim of this quantitative study is to ascertain if age has any influence on midwives’ perception of OSCE and their performance in the examination. Ex-post facto design was adopted for this study. That is because the independent variable was studied in retrospect in order to establish possible relationship with the dependent variables. We were concerned with ascertaining and establishing the status quo and facts at the time of the research and used such facts to analyze data, interpret and extrapolate and also draw inferences. Eight institutions of midwifery education in Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Nigeria were used for this study. 502 out of 532 midwives who graduated from the institutions between 2004 to 2006 participated in the study. Two validated instruments were used for data collection namely: OSCE stake holder’s questionnaire and achievement test on OSCE. The reliability index for perception stood at (r) 0.60 while the index performance stood at (r) 0.66.Data were analyzed using linear regression analysis and one way analysis of variance. Findings show that older midwives had significant higher perception of OSCE than the younger midwives. Conclusion: age has significant influence on midwives’ perception of OSCE but perception has no influence on their performance in OSCE