A Comparative Study on Critical Thinking Skills of Bachelor and Master's Degree Students in Critical Care Nursing

Background: Promoting critical thinking skills is an essential outcome of undergraduate and postgraduate nursing education. Objectives: The current study aims at comparing critical thinking skills of bachelor students of nursing (BSc) and master’s students of critical care nursing (MSc) in the academic year 2014 - 2015. Methods: The current cross-sectional study was conducted on 79 BSc students of nursing and 44 MSc students of critical care nursing in 3 universities of medical sciences including Semnan, Tehran, and Kashan. The California critical thinking test, form B, was used for data collection. Analysis of variance Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for statistical analyses. Results: Themeanscores of BS and MSc nursing students were 11.14�3.01 and 10.05�3.33, respectively, which were not significantly different. The mean scores of students in Semnan, Tehran, and Kashan universities of medical sciences were 9.84 � 3.13, 9.66 � 3.32, and 11.79 � 2.92, respectively, and the total mean score was 10.46 � 3.24. The scores of critical thinking domains showed that students in Kashan University gained higher scores in interference, and deductive and inductive reasoning domains compared with the students in other universities. Conclusions: The level of critical thinking in BSc students was higher. The overall level of critical thinking skills was low in nursing students. It is suggested that appropriate and effective methods should be employed to create and improve critical thinking in nursing education

A Comparative Study on Critical Thinking Skills of Bachelor and Master�s Degree Students in Critical Care Nursing

Background: Promoting critical thinking skills is an essential outcome of undergraduate and postgraduate nursing education. Objectives: The current study aims at comparing critical thinking skills of bachelor students of nursing (BSc) and master’s students of critical care nursing (MSc) in the academic year 2014 - 2015. Methods: The current cross-sectional study was conducted on 79 BSc students of nursing and 44 MSc students of critical care nursing in 3 universities of medical sciences including Semnan, Tehran, and Kashan. The California critical thinking test, form B, was used for data collection. Analysis of variance Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for statistical analyses. Results: Themeanscores of BS and MSc nursing students were 11.14�3.01 and 10.05�3.33, respectively, which were not significantly different. The mean scores of students in Semnan, Tehran, and Kashan universities of medical sciences were 9.84 � 3.13, 9.66 � 3.32, and 11.79 � 2.92, respectively, and the total mean score was 10.46 � 3.24. The scores of critical thinking domains showed that students in Kashan University gained higher scores in interference, and deductive and inductive reasoning domains compared with the students in other universities. Conclusions: The level of critical thinking in BSc students was higher. The overall level of critical thinking skills was low in nursing students. It is suggested that appropriate and effective methods should be employed to create and improve critical thinking in nursing education

Life cycle of pharaoh cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis) under laboratory condition

Pharaoh Cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis) is commercially important and native cephalopods in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. In 2013, a total of 150 eggs of Pharaoh Cuttlefish were collected from 20 m depth in about 6 miles south of Lengeh Port and transferred to the laboratory of Mollusks Research Station in Bandar-e Lengeh. Eggs were incubated in temperature of 27.5±0.5 0C (mean ± SD) and salinity of about 37-38 ppt. After about 15±3 days (mean ± SD), eggs were hatched and the mean (±SD) of mantle length and wet weight of new hatched juveniles were 6.1±0.3 mm and 0.15±.04 g, respectively. In the first month, Artemia, Mysid and PL of L. vannamei shrimps were fed to juveniles and in second month it shifted to fish slices. After 30 days, average (±SD) mantle length and wet weight reached to 18.6±0.6 mm and 1.67±0.14 g, respectively. At the age of 60 days they reached to average (±SD) length of 32.3±4.2 mm and average (±SD) weight of 8.00±3.72 g. At the age of 120 days they reached to average (±SD) length of 74.5±11.3 mm and average (±SD) weight of 55.74±13.81 g. The sex was identified on the day of 150, and mate selecting occurred on 180th day, mating and spawning were occurred in days 208 and 210 of rearing period, respectively. Each female laid average (±SD) 185±30 eggs; and average (±SD) life spans for female and male were 212±7 and 218±20 days, respectively. Males were bigger than females and the biggest male reached to 157.9 mm in length and 367.10 g in weight. The biggest female reached to 105.1 mm in length and 227.18 g in weight. Results showed that Pharaoh Cuttlefish could easily be cultured under laboratory condition with possibility of rearing to the next generation after spawning

Design and perceptual validation of performance measures for salient object segmentation

Empirical evaluation of salient object segmentation methods requires i) a dataset of ground truth object segmen-tations and ii) a performance measure to compare the out-put of the algorithm with the ground truth. In this paper, we provide such a dataset, and evaluate 5 distinct performance measures that have been used in the literature practically and psychophysically. Our results suggest that a measure based upon minimal contour mappings is most sensitive to shape irregularities and most consistent with human judge-ments. In fact, the contour mapping measure is as predic-tive of human judgements as human subjects are of each other. Region-based methods, and contour methods such as Hausdorff distances that do not respect the ordering of points on shape boundaries are significantly less consistent with human judgements. We also show that minimal contour mappings can be used as the correspondence paradigm for Precision-Recall analysis. Our findings can provide guid-ance in evaluating the results of segmentation algorithms in the future. 1

Density index and length scale of Pearl Oyster Pinctada radiata in two habitats around Hendorabi Island (Iran, the Persian Gulf)

As pearling has been banned in Iran since 2006, stocks of pearl oysters has not been investigated during these years; therefore, condition of natural habitats for Pinctada radiata in its old habitats was surveyed in present research. Shallow waters around Hendorabi Island were searched with diving and two habitats namely “Sooleh” and “Sahel-e-sheni”, were considered for study. The pearl oysters had most distribution in these habitats in depth ranges of 7 to 12 m and 8 to 11 m, respectively. Total stock in Sooleh and Sahel-e-sheni was surveyed near 35700 and 12563 Pinctada radiata, respectively, of which 22% and 67% were catchable, respectively. Catch Per Unit of Area (CPUA) in Sooleh and Sahel-e-sheni habitats was estimated equal to 0.3 N/m2 in both habitats, and Catch Per Unit of Effort (CPUE) in these habitats was calculated equal to 59.5 N/hr and 50.3 N/hr, respectively. Results of this study demonstrated that area, stocks and CPUA for studied habitats were less than previous years. Despite of interdict of pearling in this region since 7 years ago, stock revival has done slowly

The correlation of RNase A enzymatic activity with the changes in the distance between Nepsilon2-His12 and N delta1-His119 upon addition of stabilizing and destabilizing salts.

The effect of stabilizing and destabilizing salts on the catalytic behavior of ribonuclease A (RNase A) was investigated at pH 7.5 and 25 degrees C, using spectrophotometric, viscometric and molecular dynamic methods. The changes in the distance between N(epsilon2) of His(12) and N(delta1) of His(119) at the catalytic center of RNase A upon the addition of sodium sulfate, sodium hydrogen sulfate and sodium thiocyanate were evaluated by molecular dynamic methods. The compactness and expansion in terms of Stokes radius of RNase A upon the addition of sulfate ions as kosmotropic salts, and thiocyanate ion as a chaotropic salt, were estimated by viscometric measurements. Enzyme activity was measured using cytidine 2', 3'-cyclic monophosphate as a substrate. The results from the measurements of distances between N(epsilon2) of His(12) and N(delta1) of His(119) and Stokes radius suggest (i) that the presence of sulfate ions decreases the distance between the catalytic His residues and increases the globular compactness, and (ii) that there is an expansion of the enzyme surface as well as elongation of the catalytic center in the presence of thiocyanate ion. These findings are in agreement with activity measurements

Association Between Sarcopenia and Functional Status in Liver Transplant Patients

OBJECTIVES: A growing body of evidence shows that frailty and functional performance predict liver transplant outcomes. The Organ Procurement and Transplant Network uses the Karnofsky Performance Status scale to adjust for transplant center case mix in assessing quality measures. This study explores the strength of the relationship between Karnofsky Performance Status scores and objective measures of frailty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This observational study includes 136 adult, first-time liver transplant recipients at UMass Memorial (2006-2015) who had 2 abdominal computed tomography scans available (at \u3c /= 90 days pretransplant and \u3e /= 7 days before that). We analyzed the relationship between Karnofsky Performance Status and muscle wasting using absolute and change in psoas muscle size and quality pretransplant. RESULTS: The mean age was 55 years, mean Model for End-Stage Liver Disease was 22, and 34% of patients were women. In the study group, 50% of patients had sarcopenia pretransplant and 71.3% demonstrated declined lean psoas area at an average rate of 11% per month. Patients who experienced muscle wasting at a rate of \u3e /= 1% per month had 2.83 times the risk (95% confidence interval, 1.18-6.80) of being severely impaired/disabled pretransplant. The risk increased by 2.32-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.44-3.75) for every standard deviation decrease in pretransplant lean psoas area. CONCLUSIONS: Provider-assessed physical health status moderately correlates with objective measures of frailty

Impact of recipient functional status on 1-year liver transplant outcomes

BACKGROUND: The Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) scale has been widely validated for clinical practice for over 60 years.AIM: To examine the extent to which poor pre-transplant functional status, assessed using the KPS scale, is associated with increased risk of mortality and/or graft failure at 1-year post-transplantation.METHODS: This study included 38278 United States adults who underwent first, non-urgent, liver-only transplantation from 2005 to 2014 (Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients). Functional impairment/disability was categorized as severe, moderate, or none/normal. Analyses were conducted using multivariable-adjusted Cox survival regression models.RESULTS: The median age was 56 years, 31% were women, median pre-transplant Model for End-Stage for Liver Disease score was 18. Functional impairment was present in 70%; one-quarter of the sample was severely disabled. After controlling for key recipient and donor factors, moderately and severely disabled patients had a 1-year mortality rate of 1.32 [confidence interval (CI): 1.21-1.44] and 1.73 (95%CI: 1.56-1.91) compared to patients with no impairment, respectively. Subjects with moderate and severe disability also had a multivariable-adjusted 1-year graft failure rate of 1.13 (CI: 1.02-1.24) and 1.16 (CI: 1.02-1.31), respectively.CONCLUSION: Pre-transplant functional status is a useful prognostic indicator for 1-year post-transplant patient and graft survival.</p

Atorvastatin treatment softens human red blood cells: An optical tweezers study

Optical tweezers are proven indispensable single-cell micro-manipulation and mechanical phenotyping tools. In this study, we have used optical tweezers for measuring the viscoelastic properties of human red blood cells (RBCs). Comparison of the viscoelastic features of the healthy fresh and atorvastatin treated cells revealed that the drug softens the cells. Using a simple modeling approach, we proposed a molecular model that explains the drug-induced softening of the RBC membrane. Our results suggest that direct interactions between the drug and cytoskeletal components underlie the drug-induced softening of the cells. © 2018 Optical Society of America

Checking the e-learning acceptability of Iranian agricultural higher education centers from the viewpoints of faculty staff and graduate students

Background and Objectives:E-learning is the newest form of distance learning and is called an approach to curriculum planning in which, in addition to using inclusive methods, computer tools and the Internet are used. The first generation of e-learning, or web-based learning programs, focused on providing physical classes based on educational content and the Internet. Today, many universities and educational institutions around the world have stepped in to design and offer e-learning programs and courses to meet the growing demand for education. One of the desirable features that can play an important role in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of this type of training is the personalization of the learning environment according to the characteristics of learners. This adaptation is in order for the user to be able to benefit from the learning content and other services of the system according to their goals, knowledge and preferences, and the system, instead of treating everyone equally, treats everyone according to its own characteristics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effective factors of e-learning adoption in agricultural higher education universities of Iran and to determine the most effective structures on the acceptance of this technology by the faculty members and graduate students. This research was performed to measure the acceptance using survey and the multivariate statistical technique of path analyses. Method and Materials: Statistical population of this research consisted of faculty members and postgraduate students in Iran’s higher agricultural education centers. Total Cronbach Alpha of the questionnaire, for the reliability of the 68 items of the questionnaire, was 88.5 % that is an acceptable figure which demonstrates the high reliability of the questionnaire. In total, 646 questionnaires were collected from 4 universities (Tehran University, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hormozgan University and Torbat Heydariyeh University). After multivariate statistical analysis ‘Path analysis’ and through calculating Beta Coefficients for different routes, the importance of each path was determined. Findings: The results showed that if members of the faculty and postgraduate students of higher education of agriculture in Iran get this reflection that the use of e-learning to carry out their educational activities is useful and reliable at higher agricultural education centers, even those people are not consistent with their subjective norms and have risks, they will continue to use e-learning. From the perspective of the respondents, e-learning is a safe and appropriate education. Therefore, possible risks in such training in virtual environments does not affect their attitude towards this type of training. Conclusion: Therefore, it can be said that if faculty members and graduate students of agricultural higher education in Iran come to the mentality that using e-learning to carry out their educational activities in agricultural higher education centers is "beneficial" as well as "reliable”, even if it is not compatible with their "mental norm" and has a "perceived risk", they will still use e-learning