Exploring the Integration of Disability Awareness into Tertiary Teaching and Learning Activities

A desire to have every student attending our University be aware of, and reflect on, disability in their studies and future careers, initiated our project to explore how to enhance disability awareness within all our University’s papers. In this project we systematically reviewed pertinent literature and ran an action research workshop for staff. Strategies to enhance disability awareness identified in the literature and workshop were presented and verified at an interactive conference presentation. Embedding disability awareness into curricula is challenging; staff considered themselves powerless to bring about change in their departments, but thought that one way to do so would be by modelling inclusive behaviour and by introducing subtle inclusive practices into papers taught. The identified strategies may be of use to others contemplating similar curricular modifications

Collaborative Nursing Education Partnerships: Faculty Experience of Shared Curriculum

Abstract Collaborative partnerships between universities and colleges represent a new kind of synergism with potential to improve the quality of nursing education and ultimately patient care. These partnerships can also be challenging due to the difference in the respective organizational cultures, institutional mandates, and missions. There is a lack of research investigating the faculty member experiences within collaborative partnerships. In this paper we report on nursing faculty members’ experience of offering a shared integrated context-relevant undergraduate-nursing curriculum within one Western Canadian collaborative nursing education partnership. Using a qualitative descriptive research design, we conducted two focus groups, one at the college and one at the university, to discuss their experience of adopting a shared curriculum. College and university nursing faculty involved in teaching year two of the new integrated context relevant baccalaureate curriculum were eligible to participate. We audio-recorded the focus groups and analyzed the transcribed data using thematic analysis. We identified five key themes within the broad categories of positionality and perceptions that were critical elements in shaping the nursing faculty experience in both institutions: a) unique institutional culture and norms, b) shared curriculum communication, c) feelings of uncertainty, d) desire for reciprocity among nurse educators within the partnership, and e) vision for a dream team. Ultimately, the nursing faculty at both the college and university were positive in their belief that offering a shared curriculum can contribute to improving the overall quality of collaborative nursing education programs and undergraduate student education. Résumé Les partenariats de collaboration entre les universités et les collèges représentent un nouveau type de synergie susceptible d’améliorer la qualité de la formation infirmière et, ultimement, des soins prodigués aux patients. Ces partenariats posent également leur part de défi en raison de la différence dans les cultures, les mandats institutionnels et les missions des organisations. Les recherches sur les expériences des membres du corps enseignant au sein des partenariats de collaboration sont actuellement insuffisantes. Cet article examine l’expérience des membres du corps enseignant infirmier d’offrir un curriculum de premier cycle en sciences infirmières, partagé, intégré et fondé sur le contexte dans le cadre d’un partenariat de collaboration en formation infirmière de l’Ouest canadien. À l’aide d’un devis de recherche qualitatif descriptif, deux groupes de discussion ont été menés, l’un au collège et l’autre à l’université, afin d’en apprendre davantage sur les expériences des membres d’adopter un curriculum partagé. Les membres du corps enseignant des sciences infirmières des collèges et universités impliqués dans l’enseignement de la deuxième année du nouveau curriculum intégré de baccalauréat étaient sollicités comme participants. Nous avons procédé à un enregistrement audio des groupes de discussion et analysé les données transcrites à l’aide d’une analyse thématique. Ceci nous a permis d’identifier cinq thèmes clés dans les grandes catégories de positionnent et de perceptions qui ont été les éléments essentiels dans le façonnement de l’expérience du corps enseignant en sciences infirmières dans les deux institutions : a) la culture institutionnelle et les normes uniques; b) la communication du curriculum partagé; c) le sentiment d’incertitude; d) le désir d’une réciprocité entre les formatrices infirmières au sein du partenariat; et e) la vision d’une équipe de rêve. Ultimement, les membres des corps enseignants des sciences infirmières respectifs, c’est-à-dire, du collège et de l’université, croyaient qu’un curriculum partagé peut contribuer à améliorer la qualité globale des programmes collaboratifs en formation infirmière et de la préparation des étudiantes du premier cycle

Operative and Radiographic Acetabular Component Orientation in Total Hip Replacement: Influence of Pelvic Orientation and Surgical Positioning Technique

Orthopaedic surgeons often experience a mismatch between perceived intra-operative and radiographic acetabular cup orientation. This research aimed to assess the impact of pelvic orientation and surgical positioning technique on operative and radiographic cup orientation. Radiographic orientations for two surgical approaches were computationally simulated: a mechanical alignment guide and a transverse acetabular ligament approach, both in combination with different pelvic orientations. Positional errors were defined as the difference between the target radiographic orientation and that achieved. The transverse acetabular ligament method demonstrated smaller positional errors for radiographic version; 4.0° ± 2.9° as compared to 9.4° ± 7.3° for the mechanical alignment guide method. However, both methods resulted in similar errors in radiographic inclination. Multiple regression analysis showed that intraoperative pelvic rotation about the anterior-posterior axis was a strong predictor for these errors (B TAL = −0.893, B MAG = −0.951, p &lt; 0.01). Application of the transverse acetabular ligament method can reduce errors in radiographic version. However, if the orthopaedic surgeon is referencing off the theatre floor to control inclination when operating in lateral decubitus, this is only reliable if the pelvic sagittal plane is horizontal. There is currently no readily available method for ensuring that this is the case during total hip replacement surgery. </p

Effects of fro and HzO on andesite phase relations between 2 and 4 kbar

International audienceExperimentalp hasee quilibriah ave been investigatedo n three medium-K silicic andesite (60-61 wt % SiO2) samples from Mount Pelhe at 2-4 kbar, 850-1040øC, under both vapor-saturatedC O2-freea nd vapor-saturatedC O2-bearingc onditions.M ost experiments were crystallizatione xperimentsu singd ry glassesp reparedf rom the naturalr ocks.B oth normal-a nd rapidq uenche xperimentsw ere performed.T wo rangeso f oxygenf ugacity( fo2) were investigatedN: NO (Ni-NiO buffer) to NNO + 1 and NNO + 2 to NNO + 3. At 2 kbar for moderatelyo xidizing conditionsp, lagioclase( pl) and magnetite( mt) are the liquidus phases, followed by low-Ca pyroxene (opx); these three phases coexist over a large temperature( T)-H20 range( 875-950øC and 5-7 wt % H20 in melt). Amphibole (am) is stable undern ear vapor-saturatedC O2-freec onditionsa t 876øC. At 900øC, ilmenite (ilm) is found only in experimentsle sst hano r equalt o NNO. Upon increasingp ressure( P) underv aporsaturatedC O2-freec onditionsp, l + mt is replacedb y am + mt on the liquidusa bove3 .5 kbar. For highly oxidizingc onditionsm, t is the solel iquidusp hasea t 2 kbar, followed by pl and opx, except in the most H20-rich part of the diagram at 930øC, where opx is replaced by Carich pyroxene( cpx) and am. Compositionso f ferromagnesianp hasess ystematicallyc orrelate with changingfo2E xperimentalg lassesr angef rom andesitict hroughd acitict o rhyolitic, showings ystematicc ompositionavl ariationsw ith pl + opx + mt fractionation( increaseo f SiO2a ndK 20,d ecreasoef A1203C, aO,F eOt, andM gO).F eO*/MgOm oderateilnyc reases with increasingS iO2.F orfo2 conditionst ypical of calk-alkalinem agmatism( approximately NNO + 1), magnetite is either a liquidus or a near-liquidus phase in hydrous silicic andesite magmas,a nd this shoulds timulater eexaminationfo r the mechanismso f generationo f andesitesb y fractionationf rom basalticp arents

Development of a method for reliable power input measurements in conventional and single-use stirred bioreactors at laboratory scale

Power input is an important engineering and scale-up/down criterion in stirred bioreactors. However, reliably measuring power input in laboratory-scale systems is still challenging. Even though torque measurements have proven to be suitable in pilot scale systems, sensor accuracy, resolution, and errors from relatively high levels of friction inside bearings can become limiting factors at smaller scales. An experimental setup for power input measurements was developed in this study by focusing on stainless steel and single-use bioreactors in the single-digit volume range. The friction losses inside the air bearings were effectively reduced to less than 0.5% of themeasurement range of the torque meter. A comparison of dimensionless power numbers determined for a reference Rushton turbine stirrer (N-P = 4.17 +/- 0.14 for fully turbulent conditions) revealed good agreement with literature data. Hence, the power numbers of several reusable and single-use bioreactors could be determined over a wide range of Reynolds numbers between 100 and > 10(4). Power numbers of between 0.3 and 4.5 (for Re = 10(4)) were determined for the different systems. The rigid plastic vessels showed similar power characteristics to their reusable counterparts. Thus, it was demonstrated that the torque-based technique can be used to reliably measure power input in stirred reusable and single-use bioreactors at the laboratory scale

Heart rate response to therapeutic hypothermia in infants with hypoxic–ischaemic encephalopathy

Aim of the studyNeonatal encephalopathy (NE) of hypoxic-ischaemic origin may cause death or life-long disability which is reduced by therapeutic hypothermia (TH). Our objective was to assess HR response in infants undergoing TH after perinatal asphyxia.MethodsWe performed a retrospective case series, from a single-centre tertiary care NICU. We included ninety-two infants with NE of likely hypoxic-ischaemic origin, moderate or severe, treated with TH (n = 60) or normothermia (n = 32) who had 18 month outcome data and at least 12 HR recordings the first 24 h after birth (1998–2010) Bristol, UK. Poor outcome was defined as death or severe disability. Data are reported as medians and 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsTH to 33.5 °C decreased HR by 30 bpm to 92 bpm (95% CI: 88,96) 12 h after birth in infants with NE and good outcome as compared to infants treated at normothermia 118 bpm (95% CI: 110,130). Despite constant low rectal temperature, HR increased gradually during cooling from 36 to 72 h to 97 bpm (89,106) approaching the normothermia group, 117 bpm (96,133). During TH, infants with poor outcome had higher HR at 12 h after birth (112 bpm, 95%CI: 92,115) as compared to infants with good outcome (p = 0.004). Inotropic support increased HR by 17 bpm in infants with good outcome and by 22 bpm in infants with poor outcome.ConclusionsIn NE, TH decreases HR the first day of life. HR remained lower during TH, but increased during the last day of TH. Infants with poor outcome have higher HR

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO