Job Satisfaction Among Staff Nurses in Mental Health Units in a VA facility

Studies have indicated that work environment in mental health is stressful, however, few studies have focused on staff working in acute mental health settings (Jenkins & Elliott, 2004). The purpose of this study was to describe job satisfaction among a sample of mental health staff nurses who were caring for patients with acute psychiatric disorders in a federal hospital. The second purpose was to determine if there were relationships between global job satisfaction and ethnicity, years in the organization, current unit, field of nursing, working with patients with mental disorders and age of staff nurses. An anonymous survey was distributed to a convenience sample of 69 registered nurses who worked on the four mental health units using the McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale (MMSS). The scale is a 31-item questionnaire that identifies eight types of satisfaction. Thirty two responses were received out of 69 surveys distributed, a response rate of 46%. The findings revealed that mental health staff nurses were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the current jobs (mean score 3.4). Nurses were most happy about flexibility in work schedules and were most unhappy with balance and work. The demographic findings indicated that over 70% of the nurses were concerned about their personal safety while on duty. A Pearson correlations test revealed that there is no significant relationship between global job satisfaction and the seven variables mentioned. A chi-square test found no correlation between ethnicity and global job satisfaction. The study used a small, convenience non random sample, therefore findings cannot be generalized to all nurses at the VA or general nursing population. To determine the levels of nurses\u27 job satisfaction with a larger random sample, a repeat study is recommended to include mental health nurses in different facilities in California and other states. This research may guide future research in examining job satisfaction as a measure to the delivery of quality patient care and patient outcomes

Short versus long range interactions and the size of two-body weakly bound objects

Very weakly bound systems may manifest intriguing "universal" properties, independent of the specific interaction which keeps the system bound. An interesting example is given by relations between the size of the system and the separation energy, or scaling laws. So far, scaling laws have been investigated for short-range and long-range (repulsive) potentials. We report here on scaling laws for weakly bound two-body systems valid for a larger class of potentials, i.e. short-range potentials having a repulsive core and long-range attractive potentials. We emphasize analogies and differences between the short- and the long-range case. In particular, we show that the emergence of halos is a threshold phenomenon which can arise when the system is bound not only by short-range interactions but also by long-range ones, and this for any value of the orbital angular momentum $\ell$. These results enlarge the image of halo systems we are accustomed to.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure. To be published in the Proceedings of the Workshop "Hirschegg 2003: Nuclear Structure and Dynamics at the Limits", Hirschegg, January 12 - 18, 200

Description of Heavy Quark Systems by means of Energy Dependent Potentials

We apply, for the first time, an energy dependent Schrodinger equation to describe static properties of heavy quark systems, i.e. charmonium and bottonium. We show that a good description of the eigenstates and reasonable values for the widths can be obtained. Values of the radii and of the density at the origin are also given. We compare the results to those deduced with a Schrodinger equation implemented with potentials used so far. We note that the energy dependence of the confining potential provides a natural mechanism for the saturation of the spectra. Our results introduce a new class of potentials for the description of heavy quark systems.Comment: 3 page

The development of an advanced system to cool a man in a pressure suit

Conductive cooling system for cooling man in pressurized space sui

Inter-state Economic Development- Powered by Utilities

In 2000, a group of state business recruiters from New England joined to promote New England to corporate real estate and site selection consultants at IDRC’s1 World Congress in New York City. At roughly the same time, the two metropolitan areas of Hartford, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., formed the Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership (HSEP). These informal ventures that cross state borders represent coalitions of business, academic, political and policy leaders working together to foster the combined regions’ economic well-being

Complex potentials and the inverse problem

The occurrence of complex potentials with real eigenvalues has implications concerning the inverse problem, i.e. the determination of a potential from its spectrum. First, any complex potential with real eigenvalues has at least one equivalent local potential. Secondly, a real spectrum does not necessarily corresponds to a local real potential. A basic ambiguity arises from the possibility the spectrum to be generated by a complex potential. The purpose of this work is to discuss several aspects of this problem

Mercury deposition in southern New Hampshire, 2006–2009

The atmospheric deposition of mercury (Hg) occurs via several mechanisms including wet, dry, and occult processes. In an effort to understand the atmospheric cycling and seasonal depositional characteristics of Hg, event-based wet deposition samples and reactive gaseous Hg (RGM) measurements were collected for approximately 3 years at Thompson Farm (TF), a near-coastal rural site in Durham, NH, part of the University of New Hampshire AIRMAP Observing Network. Total aqueous mercury exhibited seasonal patterns in Hg wet deposition at TF. The lowest Hg wet deposition was measured in the winter with an average total seasonal deposition of 1.56 μg m−2compared to the summer average of 4.71 μg m−2. Inter-annual differences in total wet deposition are generally linked with precipitation volume, with the greatest deposition occurring in the wettest year. Relationships between surface level RGM and Hg wet deposition were also investigated based on continuous RGM measurements at TF from November 2006 to September 2009. No correlations were observed between RGM mixing ratios and Hg wet deposition, however the ineffective scavenging of RGM during winter precipitation events was evidenced by the less frequent depletion of RGM below the detection level. Seasonal dry deposition of reactive gaseous Hg (RGM) was estimated using an order-of-magnitude approach. RGM mixing ratios and dry deposition estimates were greatest during the winter and spring. The seasonal ratios of Hg wet deposition to RGM dry deposition vary by up to a factor of 80

Introgression of Brown Norway \u3cem\u3eCYP4A\u3c/em\u3e Genes onto the Dahl Salt-Sensitive Background Restores Vascular Function in SS-5\u3csup\u3eBN\u3c/sup\u3e Consomic Rats

The present study tested the hypothesis that the Dahl SS (salt-sensitive) rat has vascular dysfunction due, in part, to the up-regulation of the CYP4A/20-HETE (cytochrome P450 ω-hydroxylase 4A)/20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid) system. To assess the role of vascular 20-HETE, SS rats were compared with SS-5BN consomic rats, carrying CYP4A alleles on chromosome 5 from the normotensive BN (Brown Norway) introgressed on to the SS genetic background. Cerebral arteries from SS-5BN rats had less CYP4A protein than arteries from SS rats fed either NS (normal-salt, 0.4% NaCl) or HS (high-salt, 4.0% NaCl) diet. ACh (acetylcholine)-induced dilation of MCAs (middle cerebral arteries) from SS and SS-5BN rats was present in SS-5BN rats fed on either an NS or HS diet, but absent in SS rats. In SS rats fed on either diet, ACh-induced dilation was restored by acute treatment with the CYP4A inhibitor DDMS (N-methyl-sulfonyl-12,12-dibromododec-11-enamide) or the 20-HETE antagonist 20-HEDE [20-hydroxyeicosa-6(Z),15(Z)-dienoic acid]. The restored response to ACh in DDMS-treated SS rats was inhibited by L-NAME (NGnitro-L-arginine methyl ester) and unaffected by indomethacin or MS-PPOH [N-methylsulfonyl-6-(2-propargyloxyphenyl)hexanamide]. Vascular relaxation responses to the NO donor C5FeN6Na2O were intact in both SS and SS-5BN rats and unaffected by the acute addition of DDMS, indicating that the vascular dysfunction of the SS rat is due to a reduced bioavailability of NO instead of failure of the VSMCs (vascular smooth muscle cells) to respond to the vasodilator. Superoxide levels in cerebral arteries of SS-5BN rats [evaluated semi-quantitatively by DHE (dihydroethidium) fluorescence] were lower than those in the arteries of SS rats. These findings indicate that SS rats have an up-regulation of the CYP4A/20-HETE pathway resulting in elevated ROS (reactive oxygen species) and reduced NO bioavailability causing vascular dysfunction

Nucleation in dilute 3He-4He liquid mixtures at low temperatures

We present a study of phase separation from supersaturated 3He-4He liquid mixtures at low temperatures addressing both the degree of critical supersaturation Dx and the thermal-to-quantum crossover temperature T* for the nucleation process. Two different nucleation seeds are investigated, namely 3He droplets and 4He vortex lines with cores filled with 3He. We have found that the experimental T* is reproduced when we consider that nucleation proceeds from 3He droplets, whereas Dx is reproduced when we consider 4He vortex lines filled with 3He. However, neither nucleation configuration is able to simultaneously reproduce the current experimental information on Dx and T*.Comment: To appear in J. of Low Temp. Physic