ACTION RESEARCH FOR NURSE EDUCATORS:A MORE NOURISHING ALTERNATIVE TO EATING OUR YOUNG

Poster Session- Since Florence Nightengale began professional schools of nursing, socialization in the nursing curriculum has been viewed from multiple perspectives. University-based nursing programs include a professional nursing course at the beginning of students’ studies. This begins the professional development of students. A thorough overview examining the history and evolution of nursing demonstrates a gap in the socialization process and faculty’s influence. In this proposed study, the researcher will examine ways in which the nursing faculty communicates with the student nurses. The question to be explored using action research is: What are the implicit and explicit behaviors nursing faculty integrate into the nursing curriculum that socialize students? This research proposal asserts that Participatory Research (PR) methods impacting the curriculum will support and empower students in this important process. Gajanayake (2001) outlined an eight-phase cycle. This will be used as a flexible template for redesigning the early professional development nursing courses. Collaboration between students and faculty will stimulate the PR method. PR will provide the structure for joint faculty and student exploration of the problem. This methodology includes: 1.Identification of a problem or need: Fewer students are choosing a career in nursing. Many nurses are leaving the profession for various reasons. Many students and nurses verbalize the lack of support throughout nursing education. 2. Reflection: Faculty members and students will be invited through focus groups and interviews to identify the impact of the socialization process. 3. Investigation: Participants will explore historical influences that have changed the face of nursing. 4. Analysis: Data gathered in the investigation phase will be used to identify the major problems and suggest possible solutions. 5. Integration: With the analysis information, participants will stimulate curriculum change by sharing and publishing this research. 6. Action Planning: In this phase, we will engage in grant writing, obtaining administrative support, and coordinating faculty input. As a result, changes in the curriculum will be created. 7. Implementation: The curriculum changes will be evaluated and analyzed. 8. Transformation: The goal of these curriculum changes is an improvement in self-confidence and self-worth in the students and the faculty. This phase will only be able to be evaluated over a period of time. What is advocated here, then, is not merely a PR project but a curriculum “revisioning” with PR as the central pedogogical feature. As a new framework outside the traditional research conducted by nurse researchers, I am aware of possible resistance. I am hopeful that this beginning work will help to reshape and rejuvenate nursing curriculum

Multiphoton resonance in a three-level system with nearly degenerate excited states

An analytic study is presented of the efficient multiphoton excitation and strong harmonic generation in three-level systems specified by a pair of nearly degenerate, strongly dipole-coupled excited states. Such systems are physically formed by the three lowest states in, e.g., the hydrogen atom or evenly charged homonuclear diatomic molecular ions under reasonably chosen laser intensities. As a detailed analytic result, we found that the laser pulse of photon energy $2{.}05\text{eV}$, duration $0{.}23\text{ps}$ and intensity $5\cdot 10^{13}\,\frac{\text{W}}{\text{cm}^2}$ is able to produce complete inversion of the initial population in the hydrogen atom through the 5-photon excitation. At the same photon energy, the pulse of duration $0{.}41\text{ps}$ and intensity $3{.}44\cdot 10^{14}\,\frac{\text{W}}{\text{cm}^2}$ was found to produce the same effect in the molecular ion but through the 9-photon excitation. We show that the accompanying scattering of light has very rich spectrum differing substantially from that of the two-level system.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures,submitted to Phys. Rev. A, comments welcom

Moment inversion problem for piecewise D-finite functions

We consider the problem of exact reconstruction of univariate functions with jump discontinuities at unknown positions from their moments. These functions are assumed to satisfy an a priori unknown linear homogeneous differential equation with polynomial coefficients on each continuity interval. Therefore, they may be specified by a finite amount of information. This reconstruction problem has practical importance in Signal Processing and other applications. It is somewhat of a ``folklore'' that the sequence of the moments of such ``piecewise D-finite''functions satisfies a linear recurrence relation of bounded order and degree. We derive this recurrence relation explicitly. It turns out that the coefficients of the differential operator which annihilates every piece of the function, as well as the locations of the discontinuities, appear in this recurrence in a precisely controlled manner. This leads to the formulation of a generic algorithm for reconstructing a piecewise D-finite function from its moments. We investigate the conditions for solvability of the resulting linear systems in the general case, as well as analyze a few particular examples. We provide results of numerical simulations for several types of signals, which test the sensitivity of the proposed algorithm to noise

High-frequency ultrasonic waves cause endothelial dysfunction on canine epicardial coronary arteries

OBJETIVO: Aplicação de energia por ultra-som pode facilitar a remoção da placa ateromatosa, mas o efeito desse procedimento em vasos próximos ainda é matéria de estudos experimentais. MÉTODOS: Para determinar se a energia ultra-sônica compromete a produção de óxido nítrico, segmentos de artérias coronárias caninas foram expostos a baixos (0-10 W) e altos (25 W) níveis de energia por 15 segundos, utilizando-se protótipo de aparelho para a realização de endarterectomia. Após exposição, segmentos das artérias coronarianas foram estudados em organ chambers. Para os ensaios farmacológicos foram utilizadas as seguintes drogas:difosfato de adenosina (ADP), acetilcolina (Ach) e fluoreto de sódio (NaF) para a avaliação do relaxamento dependente do endotélio. O nitroprussiato de sódio (NPS) e o isoproterenol foram utilizados para a avaliação do relaxamento independente do endotélio. RESULTADOS: A aplicação de alta energia ultra-sônica comprometeu o relaxamento dependente do endotélio induzido por ADP (10-9 - 10-4 M), Ach (10-9 - 10-4 M) e NaF (0,5 -9,5 mM) em artérias coronarianas epicárdicas. Entretanto, baixos valores de energia ultra-sônica não alteraram o relaxamento dependente do endotélio (nem o relaxamento máximo e nem a EC50) induzido pelos mesmos agonistas. O relaxamento da musculatura lisa vascular induzido por isoproterenol (10-9 - 10-5 M) ou NPS (10-9 - 10-6 M) não foi comprometido, tanto por baixos, quanto por altos níveis de energia ultra-sônica. CONCLUSÃO: Os experimentos demonstram que altas energias ultra-sônicas alteram a função endotelial. Entretanto, o ultra-som não altera a habilidade de relaxamento da musculatura lisa vascular de artérias caninas epicárdicas.OBJECTIVE: Application of ultrasound energy by an endarterectomy probe can facilitate the removal of atheromatous plaque, but the effect of this procedure on surrounding vessel structure and function is still a matter of experimental investigations. METHODS: To determine whether ultrasound energy impairs the production of nitric oxide or damages vascular smooth muscle function, isolated canine epicardial coronary artery segments were exposed to either high (25 W) or low (0-10 W) ultrasonic energy outputs, for 15 seconds, using an endarterectomy device prototype. After exposure, segments of epicardial coronary artery were studied in organ chambers. The following drugs were used: adenosine diphosphate (ADP), acetylcholine (Ach) and sodium fluoride (NaF) to study endothelium-dependent relaxation and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and isoproterenol to evaluate endothelium-independent relaxation. RESULTS: Application of high ultrasonic energy power impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation to ADP (10-9 - 10-4 M), Ach (10-9 - 10-4 M) and NaF (0.5 - 9.5 mM) in epicardial coronary arteries. However, low ultrasound energy output at the tip of the probe did not alter the endothelium-dependent relaxation (either maximal relaxation or EC50) to the same agonists. Vascular smooth muscle relaxation to isoproterenol (10-9 - 10-5 M) or SNP (10-9 - 10-6 M) was unaltered following exposure to either low or high ultrasonic energy outputs. CONCLUSION: These experiments currently prove that ultrasonic energy changes endothelial function of epicardial coronary arteries at high power. However, ultrasound does not alter the ability of vascular smooth muscle of canine epicardial coronary arteries to relax.Mayo FoundationCNP

Local modes, phonons, and mass transport in solid 4^4He

We propose a model to treat the local motion of atoms in solid $^{4}$He as a local mode. In this model, the solid is assumed to be described by the Self Consistent Harmonic approximation, combined with an array of local modes. We show that in the bcc phase the atomic local motion is highly directional and correlated, while in the hcp phase there is no such correlation. The correlated motion in the bcc phase leads to a strong hybridization of the local modes with the T$_{1}(110)$ phonon branch, which becomes much softer than that obtained through a Self Consistent Harmonic calculation, in agreement with experiment. In addition we predict a high energy excitation branch which is important for self-diffusion. Both the hybridization and the presence of a high energy branch are a consequence of the correlation, and appear only in the bcc phase. We suggest that the local modes can play the role in mass transport usually attributed to point defects (vacancies). Our approach offers a more overall consistent picture than obtained using vacancies as the predominant point defect. In particular, we show that our approach resolves the long standing controversy regarding the contribution of point defects to the specific heat of solid $^{4}$He.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure

Novel self-epitopes derived from aggrecan, fibrillin, and matrix metalloproteinase-3 drive distinct autoreactive T-cell responses in juvenile idiopathic arthritis and in health

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a heterogeneous autoimmune disease characterized by chronic joint inflammation. Knowing which antigens drive the autoreactive T-cell response in JIA is crucial for the understanding of disease pathogenesis and additionally may provide targets for antigen-specific immune therapy. In this study, we tested 9 self-peptides derived from joint-related autoantigens for T-cell recognition (T-cell proliferative responses and cytokine production) in 36 JIA patients and 15 healthy controls. Positive T-cell proliferative responses (stimulation index ≥2) to one or more peptides were detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 69% of JIA patients irrespective of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genotype. The peptides derived from aggrecan, fibrillin, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 yielded the highest frequency of T-cell proliferative responses in JIA patients. In both the oligoarticular and polyarticular subtypes of JIA, the aggrecan peptide induced T-cell proliferative responses that were inversely related with disease duration. The fibrillin peptide, to our knowledge, is the first identified autoantigen that is primarily recognized in polyarticular JIA patients. Finally, the epitope derived from MMP-3 elicited immune responses in both subtypes of JIA and in healthy controls. Cytokine production in short-term peptide-specific T-cell lines revealed production of interferon-γ (aggrecan/MMP-3) and interleukin (IL)-17 (aggrecan) and inhibition of IL-10 production (aggrecan). Here, we have identified a triplet of self-epitopes, each with distinct patterns of T-cell recognition in JIA patients. Additional experiments need to be performed to explore their qualities and role in disease pathogenesis in further detail

Renal cell carcinoma metastasizing to solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>A tumor metastasizing to another malignancy is an uncommon phenomenon. Since it was first described in 1902, there have been fewer than 200 cases reported in the literature, with lung cancer metastasizing to renal cell carcinoma being the most frequently described pattern. Here we report a case of a solitary fibrous tumor of the lung acting as the recipient for a renal cell carcinoma. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of such a combination and the second case involving a solitary fibrous tumor.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 58-year-old Caucasian man who developed a persistent dry cough presented to our hospital. Imaging studies revealed a large pleural-based mass in the left lung. A biopsy of the mass showed a spindle-cell lesion consistent with a solitary fibrous tumor. The patient underwent surgical excision of the 13 cm mass. The pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of a solitary fibrous tumor but also demonstrated discrete foci of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Until that point, a primary renal cell carcinoma tissue diagnosis had not been made and the initial radiological work-up was inconclusive.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Awareness of the unusual phenomenon of tumor-to-tumor metastasis is important for practicing surgical pathologists, particularly in the evaluation of a mass lesion showing bimodal histology. This case also highlights the importance of careful examination of surgical specimens, as minute and unusual findings can direct patient care.</p