STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN NURSING SCHOOL: A SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF THE NATIONAL SURVEY OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT DATA

Student engagement has received considerable attention in higher education research because of the link between increased student knowledge, greater student satisfaction with educational experience, and increased student retention and persistence. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) has been used since 2000 to assess engagement in undergraduate college students. NSSE results have been used to gain an understanding about levels of academic engagement for freshman and senior college students. Institutions use NSSE results to make changes in policies and practices to improve undergraduate education. This comparative descriptive study examined levels of undergraduate nursing students’ engagement during college by conducting a secondary analysis of NSSE data. The overall aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of nursing students’ levels of engagement at two points in time and comparing two geographic regions, and how they spent their time while in college. In a 2007 report, the National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) identified ten innovative high-impact practices in higher education. Since then, these practices have been implemented across the nation and have been associated with gains in student learning and personal development (Kuh, 2008). This study compared senior nursing students’ levels of engagement before and after these high-impact practices were recommended to see if engagement levels in senior nursing students differed between 2003 and 2010. Astin’s student involvement theory was used as a guiding framework for this study to examine how nursing students engage in the learning process and what educational resources nursing students use to become involved in the learning process. Astin’s theory focuses on what the college student does to be an active participant in the learning process and describes the environmental influences on college student development. Although statistically significant, the differences between the 2003 and 2010 nationwide cohorts of nursing students for the Level of Academic Challenge and Student-Faculty Interaction benchmarks were trivial. Senior nursing students were equally as engaged in 2010 as they were in 2003. This finding suggests consistency and stability in nursing education with regard to the Level of Academic Challenge and Student-Faculty Interaction benchmarks. Senior nursing students from Kansas and Missouri were compared to senior nursing students from all other states. Senior nursing students from KS/MO were similar to students from all other states in relation to Level of Academic Challenge and Active and Collaborative Learning benchmarks and how they spent their time in a typical 7-day week. Although statistically significant, the difference between the KS/MO cohort of nursing students and cohort of nursing students from other states for the Student-Faculty Interaction benchmark was trivial. In general, senior nursing students in 2010 were as engaged in their education as they were in 2003, reflecting stability in nursing education during this same time period. Senior nursing students from KS/MO were as engaged and spent their time in a similar manner as senior nursing students from all other states. This indicates that nursing students from these Midwest states have similar educational engagement as nursing students from other states and nursing education in the Midwest is consistent with the rest of the country. These findings of stability and consistency over time and across regions of the US are encouraging for nursing education. Nurse educators and higher-education administrators can build upon this strong foundation and make concerted efforts to further increase engagement in nursing students

AN INTEGRATED WASTE ASSAY SYSTEM USING TOMOGRAPHIC AND SEGMENTED GAMMA SCANNING FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT APPLICATIONS -10375

ABSTRACT An integrated system was built and tested for the non-destructive assay of drummed radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The system is intended for assaying waste items of contact dose rates over a wide dynamic range with a maximum of 200 R/hr. The system is capable of assaying 208 liter drums (55 U.S. Gallons) and 320 liter (85 U.S. Gallons) over-pack drums in two different modes; a Tomographic Gamma Scanning (TGS) mode and a Segmented Gamma Scanning (SGS) mode. The assay geometry for a given item is configured by automatically adjusting a variable aperture collimator, the distance of the detector from the drum, and the usage of lead attenuators of three different thicknesses. The geometry adjustment is chosen based on the measured dose rate of the item. A 15 milli-Curie Eu-152 transmission source is used in the system to determine matrix attenuation. Waste items with matrix densities between 0 and 1 g/cc were assayed in the TGS mode. TGS combines High Resolution Gamma Spectrometry (HRGS) with low spatial resolution image reconstruction to yield matrix attenuation compensated assay results. In a TGS assay, the item is scanned in 3-degrees of freedom; rotation, translation and elevation. Matrix attenuation and radionuclide concentration are obtained on a ~50 mm voxel by voxel basis. Therefore, the TGS technique is well suited for assaying non-uniform distributions of radionuclides in non-homogeneous matrices. The SGS mode can be used to increase throughput at low densities but also extends the density range to circa 3.0 g/cc by relying on simplified assumptions when the quality of the transmission data deteriorates. One of the distinguishing features of the current system is that the TGS scan was done in a direction opposite to the scans performed by other Canberra systems in the field. The unique scan direction was necessitated because of site specific requirements for installing the system. The site installation also required data acquisition to be collected via Ethernet through the Canberra Lynx instead of the AccuspecB used on other Canberra systems. In this work, we discuss the performance characteristics of the TGS system and show results of image reconstructions of point sources placed in known voxel locations. The efficiency calibration in the SGS mode was performed using Canberra's In Situ Object Calibration Software (ISOCS). ISOCS, which uses mathematical ray-tracing techniques to determine gamma ray full energy peak efficiencies. This paper presents also the system performance in the SGS mode

Leptonic decays of charged D and Ds mesons

Using 281 pb -1 of data taken on the ψ(3770) resonance and 314 pb -1 of data near or at 4170 MeV collected with the CLEO-c detector, we present two analyses to study the purely leptonic decays of charmed and charmed strange charged mesons. In the first analysis, we extract a relatively precise value for the decay constant of the D + meson by measuring [Special characters omitted.] ( D + [arrow right] μ + ν) = (4.40 ± [Special characters omitted.] ) × 10 -4 . We find f D + = (222.6 ± [Special characters omitted.] ) MeV, and compare with current theoretical calculations. We also set a 90% confidence upper limit on [Special characters omitted.] ( D + [arrow right] e + ν) \u3c 2.4 × 10 -5 which constrains new physics models. Finally with this data sample, we test whether or not the τ lepton manifests the same couplings as the μ lepton by investigating the relative decay rates in purely leptonic D + meson decays. We limit [Special characters omitted.] ( D + [arrow right] τ + ν) \u3c 2.1 × 10 -3 at 90% confidence level (C. L.), thus allowing us to place the first upper limit on the ratio R = Γ ( D + [arrow right] τ + ν)/Γ( D + [arrow right] μ + ν). The ratio of R to the Standard Model expectation of 2.65 then is \u3c1.8 at 90% C. L., consistent with the prediction of lepton universality. In the second analysis, we examine e + e - [arrow right] [Special characters omitted.] and [Special characters omitted.] interactions at 4170 MeV using the CLEO-c detector in order to measure the decay constant [Special characters omitted.] . We use the [Special characters omitted.] [arrow right] [cursive l] + ν channel, where the [cursive l] + designates either a μ + or a τ + , when the τ + [arrow right] π + ν. Analyzing both modes independently, we determine [Special characters omitted.] ([Special characters omitted.] [arrow right] μ + ν) = (0.594 ± 0.066 ± 0.031)%, [Special characters omitted.] ([Special characters omitted.] [arrow right] τ + ν) = (8.0 ± 1.3 ± 0.4)%. We also analyze them simultaneously to find an effective value of [Special characters omitted.] ([Special characters omitted.] [arrow right] μ + ν) = (0.621 ± 0.058 ± 0.032)% and extract [Special characters omitted.] = 270 ± 13 ± 7 MeV. Combining with our previous determination of [Special characters omitted.] ( D + [arrow right] μ + ν), we also find the ratio [Special characters omitted.] = 1.21 ± 0.11 ± 0.04. We compare with current theoretical estimates. Finally, we limit [Special characters omitted.] ([Special characters omitted.] [arrow right] e + ν) \u3c 1.3 × 10 -4 at 90% confidence level

Calculation and benchmark of fluence-to-local skin equivalent dose coefficients for neutrons with FLUKA, MCNP, and GEANT4 Monte-Carlo codes

International audienceDose equivalent limits for single organs are recommended by the ICRP (International Commission for the Radiological Protection publication 103). These limits do not lend themselves to be measured. They are assessed by convoluting conversion factors with particle fluences. The Fluence-to-Dose conversion factors are tabulated in the ICRP literature. They allow assessing the organ dose of interest using numerical simulations. In particular, the literature lacks the knowledge of local skin equivalent dose (LSD) coefficients for neutrons. In this article, we compute such values for neutron energies ranging from 1 meV to 15 MeV. We use FLUKA, MCNP and GEANT4 Radiation transport Monte-Carlo simulation codes to perform the calculations. A comparison between these three codes is performed. These calculated values are important for radiation protection studies and radiotherapy applications

New methodology for in-situ classification of radiological items with a clearance monitor system

Maintenance activities and operations of high-energy particle accelerators can lead to the collection ofradioactive equipment as well as waste materials. In order to ensure their proper classification as radioactiveor non-radioactive, one has to quantify the activities of radionuclides produced. According to the regulatoryrequirements in Switzerland, these activities need to be compared with nuclide-specific clearance limits. Inparticular, a new set of clearance limits was introduced by the Swiss authorities in January 2018, leading tomore conservative values for a number of relevant radionuclides. The present paper complements a previousone in which we developed a methodology to classify equipment with specific characteristics following a doserate measurement. For equipment that do not fulfill these characteristics, we here extend the methodology byusing a total gamma counting device. This methodology concerns the specific material compositions typicallyfound at CERN and takes into account the latest clearance limits introduced by the Swiss authorities. Also,particular considerations are given for electronic components. Their characterization is challenging due to themultiple compositions that can be found in the literature, whereas activation mechanisms are highly sensitiveto the material composition

On the holistic validation of electronic materials compound for irradiation study - Experimental and calculated results

Due to the large variations of chemical compositions in electronic material, the estimation of the radionuclide inventory following irradiation represents a technical challenge at CERN high-energy particle accelerators. In particular, the activation of printed circuit boards is of concern to the CERN experiments as they are widely used for various purposes ranging from safety systems to sub-detector controls. Because of maintenance operations, part of this equipment has to be removed from the accelerator machines. The literature provides a variety of compositions for electronic materials, leaving the problematic selection of the most appropriate composition for an activation study to the reader. In this article, we discuss two reference chemical compositions on the basis of a statistical analysis of large datasets of gamma spectroscopy results, and on ActiWiz calculations which take into account diferent activation scenarios at CERN. These results can be extended to electronic material irradiated in other particle accelerators

A novel technique for the optimization and reduction of gamma spectroscopy geometry uncertainties

Material activation can sometimes cause large heterogeneities in the distribution of radioactivity (hotspots). Moreover, the sample geometry parameters are not always well known. When performing gamma-spectroscopy to quantify the radionuclide inventory in activated materials, often predefined models are used to represent the sample geometry (dimensions, source-to-detector distance, material type) and their activity distribution, for efficiency calibration. This simplification causes uncertainties of the efficiency curves associated with the model and consequently, to the activity results. In this paper, we develop a new approach, based on ISOCS/LabSOCS to quantify and reduce uncertainties originating from the geometry model. The theory is described in this document and an experimental case is discussed

A new gamma spectroscopy methodology based on probabilistic uncertainty estimation and conservative approach

The gamma spectroscopy technique is commonly used in many applications to evaluate the activity of gamma emitters in a given sample. This assessment of activity is of particular interest for the disposal of radioactive waste or for clearance purposes. However, for these specific applications, one needs to show that the evaluated activities are reasonably conservative. This paper shows an application of a methodology developed to quantify the efficiency calibration curve uncertainties originating from a test case sample and its associated geometry modelling. Therefore, the effects of enclosing geometries on the activity measurement results are discussed. The purpose is to provide an example of uncertainty analysis for an approach that could be applied to other studies in which a conservative estimation of the activity is required

Qualification of gamma spectrometry measurement for the radiological characterization of mixed VLLW cables in particle accelerators

In the framework of maintenance activities in particle accelerators, such as upgrades and dismantling, a large number of activated equipment are removed from the accelerator complex and require characterization in view of their disposal as radioactive waste. In particular, cables can be of different types. This feature induces variations of the efficiency calibration curves due to the variation of the material composition, source distribution and density. Hence, quantifying the activities of the gamma-emitting radionuclides can be quite challenging for mixed cables. In this article, we propose a new qualification methodology, based on gamma spectrometry, in order to assess the activity results uncertainties of gamma-emitting radionuclides. This new methodology is developed to define the envelop efficiency calibration curves and allows for the establishment of more accurate activity values with their corresponding uncertainties

Qualification of the activities measured by gamma spectrometry on unitary items of intermediate-level radioactive waste from particle accelerators

In the frame of maintenance, upgrade and dismantling activities, activated equipment are removed from the accelerator complex and require characterization in view of their disposal as radioactive waste. The characterization process consists of a series of radiation measurements, complemented by analytical studies, which quantify the activity of radionuclides inside an object. A fraction of the radioactive waste produced at CERN presents contact dose-rates higher than 100 μSv/h, and can therefore be classified as LILW Waste (“Low and intermediate level radioactive waste”). These objects, due to the activation mechanisms, are often subject to large activity heterogeneities. The quantification of gamma-emitting radionuclides is typically performed by gamma spectrometry, under the assumption of homogeneous distributions of activity within an object. However, this assumption can lead to underestimating the activity value of such radionuclides. In this article we perform a gamma spectrometry qualification in order to quantify the impact of assuming homogenous distribution