Transition Supports for IENs in Workplace: Perspectives of IENs in Ontario

There is a nation-wide concern about nursing shortages in Canada. The skills, expertise and experience brought by internationally educated nurses (IENs) are crucial for health human resources sustainability. However, there is a lack of consistency with transition/integration services in place for IENs. An online survey was sent through email to members enrolled in CARE Centre for Internationally Educated Nurses’ bridge training program. The study findings revealed that the most recognized service offered to employed-IENs was ‘corporate orientation for all new staff’. IENs-specific orientation and buddy programs were the least recognized available initiatives. Majority of the respondents desire IEN-focused transition programs that can assist them with their professional growth and integration within the healthcare system. CARE Centre with more than ten years’ experience working with IENs is developing a two-pronged Workplace Transition Program to empower IENs and to partner with employers in knowledge transfer activities resulting in greater capacity to facilitate integration of IENs into workplace

Medication Abortion: A Sample Protocol for Increasing Access During a Pandemic and Beyond

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Distributing expertise to integrate computational thinking practices

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Superoxide dismutase downregulation in osteoarthritis progression and end-stage disease

Oxidative stress is proposed as an important factor in osteoarthritis (OA). To investigate the expression of the three superoxide dismutase (SOD) antioxidant enzymes in OA. SOD expression was determined by real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry using human femoral head cartilage. SOD2 expression in Dunkin–Hartley guinea pig knee articular cartilage was determined by immunohistochemistry. The DNA methylation status of the SOD2 promoter was determined using bisulphite sequencing. RNA interference was used to determine the consequence of SOD2 depletion on the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) using MitoSOX and collagenases, matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1) and MMP-13, gene expression. All three SOD were abundantly expressed in human cartilage but were markedly downregulated in end-stage OA cartilage, especially SOD2. In the Dunkin–Hartley guinea pig spontaneous OA model, SOD2 expression was decreased in the medial tibial condyle cartilage before, and after, the development of OA-like lesions. The SOD2 promoter had significant DNA methylation alterations in OA cartilage. Depletion of SOD2 in chondrocytes increased ROS but decreased collagenase expression. This is the first comprehensive expression profile of all SOD genes in cartilage and, importantly, using an animal model, it has been shown that a reduction in SOD2 is associated with the earliest stages of OA. A decrease in SOD2 was found to be associated with an increase in ROS but a reduction of collagenase gene expression, demonstrating the complexities of ROS function

An investigation into the sample preparation procedure and analysis of cyanoacrylate adhesives using capillary electrophoresis

In this study, the trace acid profile of cyanoacrylate adhesives was studied using capillary electrophoresis. Liquid–liquid extraction was employed as the sample preparation step before separation by capillary electrophoresis. The solubility of the adhesives was investigated using various organic solvents, e.g. hexane and dichloromethane, and chloroform was determined to be the optimum solvent as it enabled the full dissolution of the adhesive. A comprehensive stability study was performed over a 3-year period and results indicate that the adhesives were stable for 2 years after which their stability and performance degraded

Efficient Zero Knowledge for Regular Language

A succinct zero knowledge proof for regular language mem- bership, i.e., to prove a secret string behind an encryption (hash) belongs to a regular language is useful, e.g., for asserting that an encrypted email is free of malware. The great challenge in practice is that the regular language used is often huge. We present zkreg, a distributed commit- and-prove system that handles such complexity. In zkreg, cryptographic operations are encoded using arithmetic circuits, and input acceptance is modeled as a zero knowledge subset problem using Σ-protocols. We in- troduce a Feedback Commit-and-Prove (FB-CP) scheme, which connects Σ-protocols and the Groth16 system with O(1) proof size and verifier cost. We present a close-to-optimal univariate instantiation of zk-VPD, a zero knowledge variation of the KZG polynomial commitment scheme, based on which an efficient zk-subset protocol is developed. We develop a 2-phase proof scheme to further exploit the locality of Aho-Corasick automata. To demonstrate the performance and scalability of zkreg, we prove that all ELF files (encrypted and hashed) in a Linux CentOS 7 are malware free. Applying inner pairing product argument, we obtain an aggregated proof of 1.96 MB which can be verified in 6.5 seconds

Cataclysmic Variables from SDSS II. The Second Year

The first full year of operation following the commissioning year of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey has revealed a wide variety of newly discovered cataclysmic variables. We show the SDSS spectra of forty-two cataclysmic variables observed in 2002, of which thirty-five are new classifications, four are known dwarf novae (CT Hya, RZ Leo, T Leo and BZ UMa), one is a known CV identified from a previous quasar survey (Aqr1) and two are known ROSAT or FIRST discovered CVs (RX J09445+0357, FIRST J102347.6+003841). The SDSS positions, colors and spectra of all forty-two systems are presented. In addition, the results of follow-up studies of several of these objects identify the orbital periods, velocity curves and polarization that provide the system geometry and accretion properties. While most of the SDSS discovered systems are faint (>18th mag) with low accretion rates (as implied from their spectral characteristics), there are also a few bright objects which may have escaped previous surveys due to changes in the mass transfer rate.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 126, Sep. 2003, 44 pages, 25 figures (now with adjacent captions), AASTeX v5.

Two Rare Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables with Extreme Cyclotron Features Identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Two newly identified magnetic cataclysmic variables discovered in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), SDSSJ155331.12+551614.5 and SDSSJ132411.57+032050.5, have spectra showing highly prominent, narrow, strongly polarized cyclotron humps with amplitudes that vary on orbital periods of 4.39 and 2.6 hrs, respectively. In the former, the spacing of the humps indicates the 3rd and 4th harmonics in a magnetic field of ~60 MG. The narrowness of the cyclotron features and the lack of strong emission lines imply very low temperature plasmas and very low accretion rates, so that the accreting area is heated by particle collisions rather than accretion shocks. The detection of rare systems like these exemplifies the ability of the SDSS to find the lowest accretion rate close binaries.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, vol. 583, February 1, 2003; slight revisions and additions in response to referee's comments; 17 pages, 6 figures, AASTeX v4.

Pseudotyping of VSV with Ebola virus glycoprotein is superior to HIV-1 for the assessment of neutralising antibodies

Ebola virus (EBOV) is an enveloped, single-stranded RNA virus that can cause Ebola virus disease (EVD). It is thought that EVD survivors are protected against subsequent infection with EBOV and that neutralising antibodies to the viral surface glycoprotein (GP) are potential correlates of protection. Serological studies are vital to assess neutralising antibodies targeted to EBOV GP; however, handling of EBOV is limited to containment level 4 laboratories. Pseudotyped viruses can be used as alternatives to live viruses, which require high levels of bio-containment, in serological and viral entry assays. However, neutralisation capacity can differ among pseudotyped virus platforms. We evaluated the suitability of EBOV GP pseudotyped human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) to measure the neutralising ability of plasma from EVD survivors, when compared to results from a live EBOV neutralisation assay. The sensitivity, specificity and correlation with live EBOV neutralisation were greater for the VSV-based pseudotyped virus system, which is particularly important when evaluating EBOV vaccine responses and immuno-therapeutics. Therefore, the EBOV GP pseudotyped VSV neutralisation assay reported here could be used to provide a better understanding of the putative correlates of protection against EBOV