Spirituality, mental health nursing & assessment

Ruth Elliott critically examines the literature regarding mental health nursing assessment and spiritual beliefs and considers whether a person’s spiritual belief influences the outcome of a mental health nursing assessment and to identify possible strategies to overcome assessment bias or prejudic

Good for Business? Connecticut's Paid Sick Leave Law

On July 1, 2011, Connecticut became the first state in the nation to pass legislation requiring many employers to allow workers to earn paid sick leave; the law took effect six monthslater. It brought paid sick leave to large numbers of part-time workers in the state for the first time, especially in industries like hospitality and retail. The law also prohibits employersfrom penalizing covered workers who take paid sick leave, an important protection. The concerns articulated by many business associations that the law would impose heavy burdens on employers and invite worker abuse turn out to have been misplaced; instead the impact of the new law on business has been modest. One reason for this is that the coverage of the statute is limited, affecting only establishments with 50 or more workers and excluding manufacturing businesses as well as nationally chartered non-profit organizations. In short, this path-breaking legislation has brought paid sick leave to tens of thousands of Connecticut workers, with modest effects or none at all on the state's businesses.This report examines the experiences of Connecticut employers with the state's paid sick leave law. Between June and September 2013, a year and a half after the law went into effect, we conducted a survey of 251 Connecticut employers covered by the new law using a size stratified random sample. In addition, we conducted on-site interviews with managers, using a convenience sample of 15 covered organizations in the state, to assess the impact of the new law in more detail.The largest increases in paid sick leave coverage after the law went into effect were in health,education and social services; hospitality; and retail. Part-time workers, rarely covered before the law took effect, benefited disproportionately from its passage. Few employers reported abuse of the new law, and many noted positive benefits such as improved morale and reductions in the spread of illness in the workplace.Most employers reported a modest impact or no impact of the law on their costs or busines soperations, and they typically found that the administrative burden was minimal. Finally, a year and a half after its implementation, more than three-quarters of surveyed employers expressed support for the earned paid sick leave law

Survey of subject matter available for courses in family relationships.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Mass mortalities in bivalve populations: A review of the edible cockle Cerastoderma edule (L.)

Mass mortalities in bivalve populations have long been of particular concern, especially when the species supports a commercial fishery or is of conservation interest. Here we consider the evidence of mass mortalities of the edible cockle, Cerastoderma edule (L.). Through the construction of a conceptual model eight potential factors (or groups of factors) which may cause mass mortalities are identified and reviewed. These include: food limitation; density; oxygen depletion and organic loadings; temperature and salinity; parasites, pathogens and commensals; toxicants and other persistent pollutants; predation, and changes in sediment, suspended solids, topography and bathymetry. The interplay between factors in recognized and discussed based on evidence mainly from the published literature relating to temperate edible cockle beds. Anecdotal evidence is also reported from a structured survey of site-specific evidence provided by fisheries managers in England and Wales. Case studies from the UK and Europe indicate that there is often no single, clear generic cause of mass mortalities in cockle populations. The importance of linked site-specific scientific investigations and laboratory-based experiments to fill the gaps in our current understanding of mass mortalities in bivalve species is highlighted as necessary to take account of both local extrinsic and intrinsic factors

Acoustic measurements from a rotor blade-vortex interaction noise experiment in the German-Dutch Wind Tunnel (DNW)

Acoustic data are presented from a 40 percent scale model of the 4-bladed BO-105 helicopter main rotor, measured in the large European aeroacoustic wind tunnel, the DNW. Rotor blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise data in the low speed flight range were acquired using a traversing in-flow microphone array. The experimental apparatus, testing procedures, calibration results, and experimental objectives are fully described. A large representative set of averaged acoustic signals is presented

Conical holographic heat engines

We demonstrate that adding a conical deficit to a black hole holographic heat engine increases its efficiency; in contrast, allowing a black hole to accelerate decreases efficiency if the same average conical deficit is maintained. Adding other charges to the black hole does not change this qualitative effect. We also present a simple formula to calculate the efficiency of elliptical cycles for any black hole, which allows a more efficient numerical algorithm for computation

Identifying Corners Stores as the Future of Healthy Food Access in African American Communities

For many people, the corner store remains the main grocer, or the only source of sustenance in minority communities. This study examined the distribution of corner stores as a future reference point to provide healthy food access to predominantly African American communities that lack full service grocery stores. Business data was obtained from respective county by use of Standard Industrial Codes. Each corner store was then categorized by either being Full Service (Stores that sell fresh produce, fresh meat, fresh dairy, and processed foods) or Non-Full Service (stores that do not sell all four categories of foods included in the full service store definition). Addresses were geocoded and mapped to census tracts and census block groups (CBG) using ArcGIS. Of the 249 names and addresses of corner store within the 230 census tracts in Mecklenburg County, 113 census tracts are without a full service store. 37 of the 113 census tracts have a corner store located within them. These 37 census tracts are located within predominantly African American communities (47.55%) with a median household income 27.46% less than the county median household income. 36 of the 37 census tracts have a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) approved vendor, while only 21 or the 37 census tracts have a Women, Infants, and Child (WIC) approved vendor. Using this data, county-wide discussions can begin on providing corner stores the necessary subsidies and support to assist them on offering a wide variety of healthier foods at affordable prices to low income, minority communities

Changing ideas about family care for the elderly in Japan

As rapid social changes occur around the world, accompanied by increasingly larger numbers of elderly in need of care, it is crucial to gain new knowledge of the relationship between changing social institutions and the impact of such changes on the context in which care is given to the elderly.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42993/1/10823_2004_Article_BF00971564.pd

Lineage A betacoronavirus NS2 proteins and the homologous torovirus Berne pp1a carboxy-terminal domain are phosphodiesterases that antagonize activation of RNase L

Viruses in the family Coronaviridae, within the order Nidovirales, are etiologic agents of a range of human and animal diseases, including both mild and severe respiratory diseases in humans. These viruses encode conserved replicase and structural proteins as well as more diverse accessory proteins, encoded in the 3′ ends of their genomes, that often act as host cell antagonists. We previously showed that 2′,5′-phosphodiesterases (2′,5′-PDEs) encoded by the prototypical Betacoronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), and by Middle East respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus antagonize the oligoadenylate-RNase L (OAS-RNase L) pathway. Here we report that additional coronavirus superfamily members, including lineage A betacoronaviruses and toroviruses infecting both humans and animals, encode 2′,5′-PDEs capable of antagonizing RNase L. We used a chimeric MHV system (MHV(Mut)) in which exogenous PDEs were expressed from an MHV backbone lacking the gene for a functional NS2 protein, the endogenous RNase L antagonist. With this system, we found that 2′,5′-PDEs encoded by the human coronavirus HCoV-OC43 (OC43; an agent of the common cold), human enteric coronavirus (HECoV), equine coronavirus (ECoV), and equine torovirus Berne (BEV) are enzymatically active, rescue replication of MHV(Mut) in bone marrow-derived macrophages, and inhibit RNase L-mediated rRNA degradation in these cells. Additionally, PDEs encoded by OC43 and BEV rescue MHV(Mut) replication and restore pathogenesis in wild-type (WT) B6 mice. This finding expands the range of viruses known to encode antagonists of the potent OAS-RNase L antiviral pathway, highlighting its importance in a range of species as well as the selective pressures exerted on viruses to antagonize it. IMPORTANCE Viruses in the family Coronaviridae include important human and animal pathogens, including the recently emerged viruses severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (MERS-CoV). We showed previously that two viruses within the genus Betacoronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) and MERS-CoV, encode 2′,5′-phosphodiesterases (2′,5′-PDEs) that antagonize the OAS-RNase L pathway, and we report here that these proteins are furthermore conserved among additional coronavirus superfamily members, including lineage A betacoronaviruses and toroviruses, suggesting that they may play critical roles in pathogenesis. As there are no licensed vaccines or effective antivirals against human coronaviruses and few against those infecting animals, identifying viral proteins contributing to virulence can inform therapeutic development. Thus, this work demonstrates that a potent antagonist of host antiviral defenses is encoded by multiple and diverse viruses within the family Coronaviridae, presenting a possible broad-spectrum therapeutic target

Towards a Critical Understanding of Music, Emotion and Self-Identity

The article begins by outlining a dominant conception of these relations in sociologically informed analysis of music, which sees music primarily as a positive resource for active self-making. My argument is that this conception rests on a problematic notion of the self and also on an overly optimistic understanding of music, which implicitly sees music as highly independent of negative social and historical processes. I then attempt to construct a) a more adequately critical conception of personal identity in modern societies; and b) a more balanced appraisal of music-society relations. I suggest two ways in which relations between self, music and society may not always be quite so positive or as healthy as the dominant conception suggests: 1) Music is now bound up with the incorporation of authenticity and creativity into capitalism, and with intensified consumption habits. 2) Emotional self-realisation through music is now linked to status competition. Interviews are analysed