Political Participation of Registered Nurses: A Correlational Study

This study analyzes and provides a base line description of the political participation of nurses practicing in hospitals. The study explores the relationships between political participation and the variables: self-esteem, personal control, political efficacy and critical thinking. The theoretical framework for designing the questionnaire was based on the Political Participation Model (Verba and Nie, 1972) and the Political Process Participation Questionnaire (Archer, 1983). Design of the Political Efficacy Scale was based on the Subjective Political Competence Scale (Almond and Verba, 1963) and the Political Efficacy Scale (Campbell, Gurin and Miller, 1954). Self-esteem was measured by the Self-Esteem Inventory (Coopersmith, 1967). Personal Control was Measured by the Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance Locus of Control Scale, (Levenson and Miller, 1976). Critical thinking ability was measured by the Critical Thinking Appraisal (Watson and Glaser, 1980). The research study group consisted of 56 registered nurses who were practicing for five or more years in hospitals in San Diego County, California. Correlation procedures and analysis of variance were employed to test for significance and to determine whether relationships exist between political participation and the variables. A significant relationship exists between political participation and critical thinking, self-esteem and political efficacy. Nurses agreed to some extent with participation in politics, but reported a low level of participation in the political process within the last year

Age-related differences in breast cancer mortality according to race/ethnicity, insurance, and socioeconomic status.

BackgroundWe assessed breast cancer mortality in older versus younger women according to race/ethnicity, neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES), and health insurance status.MethodsThe study included female breast cancer cases 18 years of age and older, diagnosed between 2005 and 2015 in the California Cancer Registry. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to generate hazard ratios (HR) of breast cancer specific deaths and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for older (60+ years) versus younger (< 60 years) patients separately by race/ethnicity, nSES, and health insurance status.ResultsRisk of dying from breast cancer was higher in older than younger patients after multivariable adjustment, which varied in magnitude by race/ethnicity (P-interaction< 0.0001). Comparing older to younger patients, higher mortality differences were shown for non-Hispanic White (HR = 1.43; 95% CI, 1.36-1.51) and Hispanic women (HR = 1.37; 95% CI, 1.26-1.50) and lower differences for non-Hispanic Blacks (HR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.04-1.31) and Asians/Pacific Islanders (HR = 1.15; 95% CI, 1.02-1.31). HRs comparing older to younger patients varied by insurance status (P-interaction< 0.0001), with largest mortality differences observed for privately insured women (HR = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.43-1.59) and lowest in Medicaid/military/other public insurance (HR = 1.18; 95% CI, 1.10-1.26). No age differences were shown for uninsured women. HRs comparing older to younger patients were similar across nSES strata.ConclusionOur results provide evidence for the continued disparity in Black-White breast cancer mortality, which is magnified in younger women. Moreover, insurance status continues to play a role in breast cancer mortality, with uninsured women having the highest risk for breast cancer death, regardless of age

Phase I study of gemcitabine using a once every 2 weeks schedule.

Gemcitabine (2',2'-difluorodeoxycytidine) is a novel nucleoside analogue. As part of a series of studies to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of gemcitabine and the most appropriate schedule, a two-centre phase I study of gemcitabine was undertaken in patients with advanced refractory solid tumours using a once every 2 weeks schedule. Fifty-two patients were entered into the study at 14 different dose levels (40-5700 mg m-2). Weekly evaluations for toxicity were performed and the MTD for this once every 2 weeks schedule was 5700 mg m-2. The dose-limiting toxicity was myelosuppression, with neutropenia being most significant. Other toxicities were nausea, vomiting, fever and asthenia. One minor response was seen in a heavily pretreated breast cancer patient treated at 1200 mg m-2. Preclinical studies suggest that the efficacy of gemcitabine is more schedule than dose related, and it is concluded that this is not the most appropriate dosing schedule for gemcitabine. However, this study demonstrates the safety profile of gemcitabine, as doses over fourfold greater than that recommended for the weekly schedule of 1000 mg m-2 could be tolerated

Precautionary Regulation in Europe and the United States: A Quantitative Comparison

Much attention has been addressed to the question of whether Europe or the United States adopts a more precautionary stance to the regulation of potential environmental, health, and safety risks. Some commentators suggest that Europe is more risk-averse and precautionary, whereas the US is seen as more risk-taking and optimistic about the prospects for new technology. Others suggest that the US is more precautionary because its regulatory process is more legalistic and adversarial, while Europe is more lax and corporatist in its regulations. The flip-flop hypothesis claims that the US was more precautionary than Europe in the 1970s and early 1980s, and that Europe has become more precautionary since then. We examine the levels and trends in regulation of environmental, health, and safety risks since 1970. Unlike previous research, which has studied only a small set of prominent cases selected non-randomly, we develop a comprehensive list of almost 3,000 risks and code the relative stringency of regulation in Europe and the US for each of 100 risks randomly selected from that list for each year from 1970 through 2004. Our results suggest that: (a) averaging over risks, there is no significant difference in relative precaution over the period, (b) weakly consistent with the flip-flop hypothesis, there is some evidence of a modest shift toward greater relative precaution of European regulation since about 1990, although (c) there is a diversity of trends across risks, of which the most common is no change in relative precaution (including cases where Europe and the US are equally precautionary and where Europe or the US has been consistently more precautionary). The overall finding is of a mixed and diverse pattern of relative transatlantic precaution over the period

Decision making and risk management in adventure sports coaching

Adventure sport coaches practice in environments that are dynamic and high in risk, both perceived and actual. The inherent risks associated with these activities, individuals’ responses and the optimal exploitation of both combine to make the processes of risk management more complex and hazardous than the traditional sports where risk management is focused almost exclusively on minimization. Pivotal to this process is the adventure sports coaches’ ability to make effective judgments regarding levels of risk, potential benefits and possible consequences. The exact nature of this decision making process should form the basis of coaching practice and coach education in this complex and dynamic field. This positional paper examines decision making by the adventure sports coach in these complex, challenging environments and seeks to stimulate debate whilst offering a basis for future research into this topic

Coupled-channels analysis of the 16^{{\bf 16}}O+208^{{\bf 208}}Pb fusion barrier distribution

Analyses using simplified coupled-channels models have been unable to describe the shape of the previously measured fusion barrier distribution for the doubly magic $^{16}$O+$^{208}$Pb system. This problem was investigated by re-measuring the fission excitation function for $^{16}$O+$^{208}$Pb with improved accuracy and performing more exact coupled-channels calculations, avoiding the constant-coupling and first-order coupling approximations often used in simplified analyses. Couplings to the single- and 2-phonon states of $^{208}$Pb, correctly taking into account the excitation energy and the phonon character of these states, particle transfers, and the effects of varying the diffuseness of the nuclear potential, were all explored. However, in contrast to other recent analyses of precise fusion data, no satisfactory simultaneous description of the shape of the experimental barrier distribution and the fusion cross-sections for $^{16}$O+$^{208}$Pb was obtained.Comment: RevTex, 29 pages, 7 postscript figures, to appear in PR

Transparent Meta-Analysis: Does Aging Spare Prospective Memory with Focal vs. Non-Focal Cues?

Background: Prospective memory (ProM) is the ability to become aware of a previously-formed plan at the right time and place. For over twenty years, researchers have been debating whether prospective memory declines with aging or whether it is spared by aging and, most recently, whether aging spares prospective memory with focal vs. non-focal cues. Two recent meta-analyses examining these claims did not include all relevant studies and ignored prevalent ceiling effects, age confounds, and did not distinguish between prospective memory subdomains (e.g., ProM proper, vigilance, habitual ProM) (see Uttl, 2008, PLoS ONE). The present meta-analysis focuses on the following questions: Does prospective memory decline with aging? Does prospective memory with focal vs. non-focal cues decline with aging? Does the size of age-related declines with focal vs. non-focal cues vary across ProM subdomains? And are age-related declines in ProM smaller than agerelated declines in retrospective memory? Methods and Findings: A meta-analysis of event-cued ProM using data visualization and modeling, robust count methods, and conventional meta-analysis techniques revealed that first, the size of age-related declines in ProM with both focal and non-focal cues are large. Second, age-related declines in ProM with focal cues are larger in ProM proper and smaller in vigilance. Third, age-related declines in ProM proper with focal cues are as large as age-related declines in recall measures of retrospective memory

Transparent Meta-Analysis of Prospective Memory and Aging

Prospective memory (ProM) refers to our ability to become aware of a previously formed plan at the right time and place. After two decades of research on prospective memory and aging, narrative reviews and summaries have arrived at widely different conclusions. One view is that prospective memory shows large age declines, larger than age declines on retrospective memory (RetM). Another view is that prospective memory is an exception to age declines and remains invariant across the adult lifespan. The present meta-analysis of over twenty years of research settles this controversy. It shows that prospective memory declines with aging and that the magnitude of age decline varies by prospective memory subdomain (vigilance, prospective memory proper, habitual prospective memory) as well as test setting (laboratory, natural). Moreover, this meta-analysis demonstrates that previous claims of no age declines in prospective memory are artifacts of methodological and conceptual issues afflicting prior research including widespread ceiling effects, low statistical power, age confounds, and failure to distinguish between various subdomains of prospective memory (e.g., vigilance and prospective memory proper)

Methodological approaches for studying the microbial ecology of drinking water distribution systems

The study of the microbial ecology of drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) has traditionally been based on culturing organisms from bulk water samples. The development and application of molecular methods has supplied new tools for examining the microbial diversity and activity of environmental samples, yielding new insights into the microbial community and its diversity within these engineered ecosystems. In this review, the currently available methods and emerging approaches for characterising microbial communities, including both planktonic and biofilm ways of life, are critically evaluated. The study of biofilms is considered particularly important as it plays a critical role in the processes and interactions occurring at the pipe wall and bulk water interface. The advantages, limitations and usefulness of methods that can be used to detect and assess microbial abundance, community composition and function are discussed in a DWDS context. This review will assist hydraulic engineers and microbial ecologists in choosing the most appropriate tools to assess drinking water microbiology and related aspects