21,383 research outputs found
Nurses\u27 Own Birth Experiences Influence Labor Support Attitudes and Behaviors
Objective To describe the attitudes of intrapartum nurses about the importance of and intent to provide professional labor support (PLS); barriers to PLS, such as perceived subjective norms and perceived behavioral control; and relationships among attitudes, behaviors, and nurse and site characteristics. Design A cross-sectional, mixed-methods, descriptive design was guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior. Setting Three hospital sites in one region of a single Midwestern state. Participants Sixty intrapartum nurses participated. Methods The Labor Support Questionnaire and demographic questionnaire were administered online. The Labor Support Questionnaire is used to measure attitudes about the importance of and intended behaviors associated with labor support. Results Nurse Caring Behaviors was the highest rated PLS dimension. Participants\u27 own personal birth experiences and length of current intrapartum experience were positively correlated with attitudes about and intent to provide PLS. Barriers to PLS included staffing, documentation, physicians, use of epidural analgesia, doulas, and birth plans. Conclusion Personal birth and work experience influenced attitudes about and intent to provide PLS and demonstrated the relationships described in the Theory of Planned Behavior. Intrapartum nurses may benefit from an examination of their personal experiences to see how they might influence attitudes about PLS. Enhanced training and expanded labor and birth experience for novice nurses or students may improve attitudes and intended behavior with regard to PLS. Further investigations of the factors that affect integration of PLS into care are important to promote healthy birth outcomes
Aquatic Vegetation, Largemouth Bass and Water Quality Responses to Low-Dose Fluridone Two Years Post Treatment
Whole-lake techniques are increasingly being used to selectively
remove exotic plants, including Eurasian watermilfoil
(
Myriophyllum spicatum
L.). Fluridone (1-methyl-3-phenyl-
5-[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-4(1
H
)-pyridinone), a systemic
whole-lake herbicide, is selective for Eurasian watermilfoil
within a narrow low concentration range. Because fluridone
applications have the potential for large effects on plant assemblages
and lake food webs, they should be evaluated at
the whole-lake scale. We examined effects of low-dose (5 to 8
ppb) fluridone applications by comparing submersed plant
assemblages, water quality and largemouth bass (
Micropterus
salmoides
) growth rates and diets between three reference
lakes and three treatment lakes one- and two-years post treatment.
In the treatment lakes, fluridone reduced Eurasian watermilfoil
cover without reducing native plant cover, although
the duration of Eurasian watermilfoil reduction varied among
treatment lakes. (PDF has 11 pages.
The life and health challenges of young Malaysian couples: results from a stakeholder consensus and engagement study to support non-communicable disease prevention
BACKGROUND: Malaysia faces burgeoning obesity and diabetes epidemics with a 250% and 88% increase respectively between 1996 and 2006. Identifying the health challenges of young adults in Malaysia, who constitute 27.5 % of the population, is critical for NCD prevention. The aim of the study was two-fold: (1) to achieve consensus amongst stakeholders on the most important challenge impacting the health of young adults, and (2) to engage with stakeholders to formulate a NCD prevention framework.METHODS: The Delphi Technique was utilised to achieve group consensus around the most important life and health challenges that young adults face in Malaysia. Subsequently, the results of the consensus component were shared with the stakeholders in an engagement workshop to obtain input on a NCD prevention framework.RESULTS: We found that life stress was a significant concern. It would seem that the apathy towards pursuing or maintaining a healthy lifestyle among young adults may be significantly influenced by the broader distal determinant of life stress. The high cost of living is suggested to be the main push factor for young working adults towards attaining better financial security to improve their livelihood. In turn, this leads to a more stressful lifestyle with less time to focus on healthier lifestyle choices.CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight a pivotal barrier to healthier lifestyles. By assisting young adults to cope with daily living coupled with realistic opportunities to make healthier dietary choices, be more active, and less sedentary could assist in the development of NCD health promotion strategies<br/
Feasibility study - 30 watt per pound roll-up solar array Quarterly technical report, 1 Jul. - 30 Sep. 1967
Configuration, rod tradeoff, and deployment parameter studies for design of solar panel arra
Smart grids for rural conditions and e-mobility - Applying power routers, batteries and virtual power plants
Significant reductions of greenhouse gas emission by use of renewable energy sources belong to the common targets of the European Union. Smart grids address intelligent use and integration of conventional and renewable generation in combination with controllable loads and storages. Two special aspects have also to be considered for smart grids in future: rural conditions and electric vehicles. Both, the increasing share of renewable energy sources and a rising demand for charging power by electrical vehicles lead to new challenges of network stability (congestion, voltage deviation), especially in rural distribution grids. This paper describes two lighthouse projects in Europe (“Well2Wheel” and “Smart Rural Grid”) dealing with these topics. The link between these projects is the implementation of the same virtual power plant technology and the approach of cellular grid cells. Starting with an approach for the average energy balance in 15 minutes intervals in several grid cells in the first project, the second project even allows the islanded operation of such cells as a microgrid. The integration of renewable energy sources into distribution grids primary takes place in rural areas. The lighthouse project “Smart Rural Grid”, which is founded by the European Union, demonstrates possibilities to use the existing distribution system operator infrastructure more effectively by applying an optimised and scheduled operation of the assets and using intelligent distribution power routers, called IDPR. IDPR are active power electronic devices operating at low voltage in distribution grids aiming to reduce losses due to unbalanced loads and enabling active voltage and reactive power control. This allows a higher penetration of renewable energy sources in existing grids without investing in new lines and transformers. Integrated in a virtual power plant and combined with batteries, the IDPR also allows a temporary islanded mode of grid cells.
Both projects show the potential of avoiding or postponing investments in new primary infrastructure like cables, transformers and lines by using a forward-looking operation which controls generators, loads and batteries (mobile and stationary) by using new grid assets like power routers.
While primary driven by physical restrictions as voltage-band violations and energy balance, these cells also define and allow local smart markets. In consequence the distribution system operators could avoid direct control access by giving an incentive to the asset owners by local price signals according to the grid situation and forecasted congestions.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Spin-Dependent Tunneling of Single Electrons into an Empty Quantum Dot
Using real-time charge sensing and gate pulsing techniques we measure the
ratio of the rates for tunneling into the excited and ground spin states of a
single-electron AlGaAs/GaAs quantum dot in a parallel magnetic field. We find
that the ratio decreases with increasing magnetic field until tunneling into
the excited spin state is completely suppressed. However, we find that by
adjusting the voltages on the surface gates to change the orbital configuration
of the dot we can restore tunneling into the excited spin state and that the
ratio reaches a maximum when the dot is symmetric.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Electrical control of spin relaxation in a quantum dot
We demonstrate electrical control of the spin relaxation time T_1 between
Zeeman split spin states of a single electron in a lateral quantum dot. We find
that relaxation is mediated by the spin-orbit interaction, and by manipulating
the orbital states of the dot using gate voltages we vary the relaxation rate
W= (T_1)^-1 by over an order of magnitude. The dependence of W on orbital
confinement agrees with theoretical predictions and from these data we extract
the spin-orbit length. We also measure the dependence of W on magnetic field
and demonstrate that spin-orbit mediated coupling to phonons is the dominant
relaxation mechanism down to 1T, where T_1 exceeds 1s.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
The Relation between Solar Eruption Topologies and Observed Flare Features I: Flare Ribbons
In this paper we present a topological magnetic field investigation of seven
two-ribbon flares in sigmoidal active regions observed with Hinode, STEREO, and
SDO. We first derive the 3D coronal magnetic field structure of all regions
using marginally unstable 3D coronal magnetic field models created with the
flux rope insertion method. The unstable models have been shown to be a good
model of the flaring magnetic field configurations. Regions are selected based
on their pre-flare configurations along with the appearance and observational
coverage of flare ribbons, and the model is constrained using pre-flare
features observed in extreme ultraviolet and X-ray passbands. We perform a
topology analysis of the models by computing the squashing factor, Q, in order
to determine the locations of prominent quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs). QSLs
from these maps are compared to flare ribbons at their full extents. We show
that in all cases the straight segments of the two J-shaped ribbons are matched
very well by the flux-rope-related QSLs, and the matches to the hooked segments
are less consistent but still good for most cases. In addition, we show that
these QSLs overlay ridges in the electric current density maps. This study is
the largest sample of regions with QSLs derived from 3D coronal magnetic field
models, and it shows that the magnetofrictional modeling technique that we
employ gives a very good representation of flaring regions, with the power to
predict flare ribbon locations in the event of a flare following the time of
the model
Asymptotic behavior of the least common multiple of consecutive arithmetic progression terms
Let and be two integers with , and let and be
integers with and . In this paper, we prove that , where is a constant depending on and .Comment: 8 pages. To appear in Archiv der Mathemati
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