An Initial Investigation of the Applicability of the Dreyfus Skill Acquisition Model to the Professional Development of Nurse Educators

Little is known about the skill and knowledge acquisition of nurses in the educator role. This investigation represents an attempt to design and validate a skill acquisition model for the nurse educator role. While nurse educators often have strong clinical backgrounds, they face a significant role transition as nurse educators. Dreyfus and Dreyfus provided a model for studying skill acquisition in several fields and Benner applied the model to clinical nursing. To investigate skill acquisition among nurse educators, the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition along with the National League for Nursing (NLN) Nurse Educator Competencies provided a framework for the development of the Nurse Educator Skill Acquisition Model; and a 48 item survey instrument was designed to assess study participants’ level of skill acquisition. Survey items reflect the novice to expert skill acquisition levels. Differences in skill acquisition were investigated based on demographic data such as educational preparation, work setting, program type, teaching and clinical experience, professional development, and professional development focused on curriculum and instruction. The practical application of nurse educator skill was investigated using vignettes based on each of the 8 nurse educator competencies. The study population included 339 nurse educators teaching in graduate and undergraduate nursing programs in North Carolina and West Virginia. Results of this study show the survey instrument discriminated between 5 levels of skill acquisition – novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert, indicating that the skill acquisition model for the nurse educator role mirrors the Dreyfus Model. Participants reported a proficient level of total skill acquisition as well as a proficient level for each of the 8 NLN Nurse Educator Competencies. Nurse educators with postmaster’s certificates or doctoral degrees, who teach in graduate programs in public universities, and who have more than 10 years of teaching experience report the highest levels of skill acquisition. Reliability data show high internal consistency for the survey tool with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient at .977. Study findings indicate the Nurse Educator Skill Acquisition Model describes skill acquisition within the nurse educator role

Discursive Variation in Texas Spanish: A Dialectometric Approach

Texas Spanish has been characterized from a variety of perspectives, whether that be descriptively (Cardenas 1970), historically (Lipski 1988), and/or sociolinguistically (Chaston 1996, Martínez 2003, Bayley et al. 2012, Carter and Wolford 2016). However, to date, no study has sought to produce a dialectological account of Spanish discourse in Texas. By combining methods of quantitative and corpus linguistics, the present study seeks to investigate the dynamics of how Spanish discourse features, namely discourse markers and fillers, vary across multiple regions in Texas. To do so, this study utilizes a corpus of contemporary Texas Spanish (Bullock and Toribio 2013) and evaluates it via a dialectometric approach (Speelman and Geeraerts 2008), applying various computational methods to analyze this variation from a geolinguistic perspective. A battery of dialectometric analyses (aggregate linguistic distance, multidimensional scaling, cluster analysis) reveal considerable subdialectal variation among the usage of discourse markers and fillers. More specifically, the results suggest the existence of six dialect clusters corresponding to four larger dialect cluster divisions. Additionally, the use of loaned and code-switched English discourse markers does vary across different locations in Texas. While these markers appeared across all locations, the majority of them were utilized in locations near the Mexican border (El Paso, Edinburg, and Weslaco). Therefore, although somewhat curious, proximity to Mexico does not seem to correlate with less English transfer.Overall, the various computational methods provided consistent outcomes and validation tests indicate confidence in the given clustering models. However, the present study offers only a snapshot of the true nature of discursive variation in this context, and more data is necessary to fully understand the geolinguistic realities of Texas Spanish

The Persistence of Austen in the 21st Century: A Reception History of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

In 2012, the first episode of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries aired online via YouTube.com, offering a modernized serial form of Jane Austen’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. With only word-of-mouth marketing, this series gained hundreds of thousands of views, a loyal following, and an Emmy award. In this paper, I will explore the reception history of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries by referencing its source material, analyzing its target demographics, and explaining its success

Social studies in secondary schools

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1917. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

The Effects on 3D Printed Molds on Metal Castings

Additive manufacture of sand molds via binder jetting enables the casting of complex metal geometries. Various material systems have been created for 3D printing of sand molds; however, a formal study of the materials’ effects on cast products has not yet been conducted. In this paper the authors investigate potential differences in material properties (microstructure, porosity, mechanical strength) of A356 – T6 castings resulting from two different commercially available 3D printing media. In addition, the material properties of cast products from traditional “no-bake” silica sand is used as a basis for comparison of castings produced by the 3D printed molds.Mechanical Engineerin

Chiropteran types I and II interferon genes inferred from genome sequencing traces by a statistical gene-family assembler

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The rate of emergence of human pathogens is steadily increasing; most of these novel agents originate in wildlife. Bats, remarkably, are the natural reservoirs of many of the most pathogenic viruses in humans. There are two bat genome projects currently underway, a circumstance that promises to speed the discovery host factors important in the coevolution of bats with their viruses. These genomes, however, are not yet assembled and one of them will provide only low coverage, making the inference of most genes of immunological interest error-prone. Many more wildlife genome projects are underway and intend to provide only shallow coverage.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have developed a statistical method for the assembly of gene families from partial genomes. The method takes full advantage of the quality scores generated by base-calling software, incorporating them into a complete probabilistic error model, to overcome the limitation inherent in the inference of gene family members from partial sequence information. We validated the method by inferring the human IFNA genes from the genome trace archives, and used it to infer 61 type-I interferon genes, and single type-II interferon genes in the bats <it>Pteropus vampyrus </it>and <it>Myotis lucifugus</it>. We confirmed our inferences by direct cloning and sequencing of IFNA, IFNB, IFND, and IFNK in <it>P. vampyrus</it>, and by demonstrating transcription of some of the inferred genes by known interferon-inducing stimuli.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The statistical trace assembler described here provides a reliable method for extracting information from the many available and forthcoming partial or shallow genome sequencing projects, thereby facilitating the study of a wider variety of organisms with ecological and biomedical significance to humans than would otherwise be possible.</p

A host transcriptional signature for presymptomatic detection of infection in humans exposed to influenza H1N1 or H3N2.

There is great potential for host-based gene expression analysis to impact the early diagnosis of infectious diseases. In particular, the influenza pandemic of 2009 highlighted the challenges and limitations of traditional pathogen-based testing for suspected upper respiratory viral infection. We inoculated human volunteers with either influenza A (A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1) or A/Wisconsin/67/2005 (H3N2)), and assayed the peripheral blood transcriptome every 8 hours for 7 days. Of 41 inoculated volunteers, 18 (44%) developed symptomatic infection. Using unbiased sparse latent factor regression analysis, we generated a gene signature (or factor) for symptomatic influenza capable of detecting 94% of infected cases. This gene signature is detectable as early as 29 hours post-exposure and achieves maximal accuracy on average 43 hours (p = 0.003, H1N1) and 38 hours (p-value = 0.005, H3N2) before peak clinical symptoms. In order to test the relevance of these findings in naturally acquired disease, a composite influenza A signature built from these challenge studies was applied to Emergency Department patients where it discriminates between swine-origin influenza A/H1N1 (2009) infected and non-infected individuals with 92% accuracy. The host genomic response to Influenza infection is robust and may provide the means for detection before typical clinical symptoms are apparent