Problem-based Learning in Nursing Education: A Review Article

Introduction: Public health services system needs nurses with problem solving and critical thinking skills. Thus, teaching methods must be applied to nurture these skills in students. This issue has led to attention toward Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in nursing. This study was done to investigate the effect of PBL in nursing through reviewing the related literature. Methods: Using the key words PBL, nursing education, and clinical environment, all the related studies done between 2000 and 2010 were selected on Medline, Proquest, and Ovid. The studies were then assessed based on learning stages occurring in PBL and 18 researches were selected. Results: The researches supported the positive effects of PBL method in theoretical and clinical nursing education. This study suggested that PBL promotes learning, critical thinking and conflict resolution skills. Conclusion: Considering the findings of the studied research papers, it is suggested that PBL be applied in teaching theoretical and clinical courses of nursing. Also nursing schools administrators should provide the proper conditions for applying this teaching method

Artificial Neural Network to Modeling Zero-inflated Count Data: Application to Predicting Number of Return to Blood Donation.

BACKGROUND Traditional statistical models often are based on certain presuppositions and limitations that may not presence in actual data and lead to turbulence in estimation or prediction. In these situations, artificial neural networks (ANNs) could be suitable alternative rather than classical statistical methods. STUDY DESIGN  A prospective cohort study. METHODS The study was conducted in Shahrekord Blood Transfusion Center, Shahrekord, central Iran, on blood donors from 2008-2009. The accuracy of the proposed model to prediction of number of return to blood donations was compared with classical statistical models. A number of 864 donors who had a first-time successful donation were followed for five years. Number of return for blood donation was considered as response variable. Poisson regression (PR), negative binomial regression (NBR), zero-inflated Poisson regression (ZIPR) and zero-inflated negative binomial regression (ZINBR) as well as ANN model were fitted to data. MSE criterion was used to compare models. To fitting the models, STATISTICA 10 and, R 3.2.2 was used RESULTS: The MSE of PR, NBR, ZIPR, ZINBR and ANN models was obtained 2.71, 1.01, 1.54, 0.094 and 0.056 for the training and 4.05, 9.89, 3.99, 2.53 and 0.27 for the test data, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The ANN model had the least MSE in both training, and test data set and has a better performance than classic models. ANN could be a suitable alternative for modeling such data because of fewer restrictions

Application of Learning Theories in Clinical Education

Introduction: The purpose of education is learning. Several theories have been raised about learning, which have tried to explain how learning occurs. They help teachers to choose teaching methods, prepare learning environment and determine students' activities. Given the importance of learning theories in education, this study aimed to review application of learning theories in nursing education. Methods: In this study, some related published literatures during 2000-2010 were selected using key words including learning, theory and nursing education. Then the selected materials were reviewed for extracting application of learning theories in nursing education. Application of behavioral learning theories, cognitive theories (including Gestalt theory, information processing, Ausubel meaningful learning, constructivism, Bandura's social learning) and adult learning theory in nursing education were discussed in this article. Results: Some applications of behavioral theories are teaching in a sequential, simple to complex pattern teaching the skills using behavioral objectives for determining learning outcomes and assessment and providing teaching plan using the nursing process and nursing care plans and positive reinforcement. Principles of Gestalt theory have been used in mental organization towards simplicity, directed balance and equilibrium, and selective stimulus perception. Writing narratives and portfolio are samples of the application of constructive theory. Role models have been used in social cognitive theory. Based on adult learning theory, learners should be active and taught material should be applicable for them. Conclusion: Each learning theory has the particular application. Nursing educators must apply proper learning theories regarding students' experience and target material

Flight Gate Assignment with a Quantum Annealer

Optimal flight gate assignment is a highly relevant optimization problem from airport management. Among others, an important goal is the minimization of the total transit time of the passengers. The corresponding objective function is quadratic in the binary decision variables encoding the flight-to-gate assignment. Hence, it is a quadratic assignment problem being hard to solve in general. In this work we investigate the solvability of this problem with a D-Wave quantum annealer. These machines are optimizers for quadratic unconstrained optimization problems (QUBO). Therefore the flight gate assignment problem seems to be well suited for these machines. We use real world data from a mid-sized German airport as well as simulation based data to extract typical instances small enough to be amenable to the D-Wave machine. In order to mitigate precision problems, we employ bin packing on the passenger numbers to reduce the precision requirements of the extracted instances. We find that, for the instances we investigated, the bin packing has little effect on the solution quality. Hence, we were able to solve small problem instances extracted from real data with the D-Wave 2000Q quantum annealer.Comment: Updated figure

Comparing Strengths and Weaknesses of Learning Theories

چكيده مقدمه: آموزش در علوم پزشكي در حال تغيير است. بنابراين نياز است كه مدرسان عملكردهاي خود را ارزيابي و براي به حداكثر رساندن يادگيري تلاش كنند. تئوريهاي يادگيري ميتواند ديدگاه هايي در مورد يادگيري فراهم كنند. هدف از اين مطالعه بررسي نقاط قوت و ضعف هر يك از تئوريهاي يادگيري شامل تئوريهاي رفتاري، شناختي و انسانگرايانه با مرور متون مرتبط است. روشها: در اين مطالعه برخي از متون مرتبط با تئوريهاي يادگيري شامل كتب و مقالات انتخاب شدند. سپس متون انتخاب شده از نظر نقاط قوت و ضعف تئوريهاي يادگيري مورد بررسي قرار گرفتند. يافتهها: نتايج نشان داد كه تئوريهاي رفتاري ساده هستند، كاربرد آنها آسان است و فراگير بر يك هدف واضح و مشخص متمركز ميشود. تئوريهاي يادگيري شناختي نظير خبرپردازي، گشتالت و سازندهگرايي موجب ارتقاي تفكر انتقادي و حل مسأله در فراگير ميشوند و فراگير ميتواند بهتر با موقعيتهاي واقعي زندگي روبرو شود. در تئوري انسانگرايانه تمركز يادگيري مربوط به نيازهاي فرد است كه نياز غايي آن خود شكوفايي و خوديابي است. يادگيري خود-راهبر يكي از مهمترين و مشهورترين اصول آموزشي اين رويكرد است كه نهايتاً منجر به خود هدايتي در فراگير ميشود. نتيجهگيري: هر تئوري به يك جنبه از يادگيري ميپردازد و بنابراين هر كدام داراي نقاط قوت و ضعف خاصي هستند. لازم است مدرسان و طراحان آموزشي به اين موارد جهت استفاده بهتر از تئوريها توجه كنند

Universal DNA methylation age across mammalian tissues.

Aging, often considered a result of random cellular damage, can be accurately estimated using DNA methylation profiles, the foundation of pan-tissue epigenetic clocks. Here, we demonstrate the development of universal pan-mammalian clocks, using 11,754 methylation arrays from our Mammalian Methylation Consortium, which encompass 59 tissue types across 185 mammalian species. These predictive models estimate mammalian tissue age with high accuracy (r > 0.96). Age deviations correlate with human mortality risk, mouse somatotropic axis mutations and caloric restriction. We identified specific cytosines with methylation levels that change with age across numerous species. These sites, highly enriched in polycomb repressive complex 2-binding locations, are near genes implicated in mammalian development, cancer, obesity and longevity. Our findings offer new evidence suggesting that aging is evolutionarily conserved and intertwined with developmental processes across all mammals

The Study of Maternal Perception of Preterm Infants and Some Related Factors in Selected Hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences

Background and Purpose: Appropriate maternal care is necessary to provide Physical growth and mental development of neonate which is related to establishing a good relationship between mother and infant. Positive perception of mothers to their neonates, creates a better relationship between them. Maternal perception of neonates is based on her understanding of biological behavior of the infant. Special features of prematurity, maternal stress and anxiety due to premature delivery are effective on maternal perceptions. The purpose of this study was to determine the maternal perception of premature infants as determining it’s related factors. Methods: In a cross-sectional design, 150 mothers of preterm infants who were been admitted to Neonatal intensive care units of 2 selected hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences, entered the study. Broussard questionnaire were used to measure the maternal perception. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistical analysis and Kay square and Fisher's exact tests were used for analyzing the data. Results: Most of mother’s had a negative perception of their preterm infant. Based on the results, Mather’s job, fathers’ job, mothers’ age, husband’s support, desire about the pregnancy, history of miscarriage and still birth were related with perception of mothers of preterm infants. Discussion: Negative perceptions in mothers of preterm infants are prevalent and in some groups are in higher risk. As negative perception can have a role in developmental processes and cause problems in future, preparing circumstances to decrease mothers’ stress and providing facilities and interventions to increase mother-infant communications are essential. These are treatment team’s duties. The health care team can screen susceptible cases and by supportive interventions, it is possible to create better mother-baby relationship and prepare better care to prevent future developmental problems

Increased Microleakage of Amalgam Restorations after Exposure to 2.4 Ghz Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields from Common Wi-Fi Routers

Statement of Problem: Previous studies have shown that exposure of dental amalgam fillings to MRI and mobile phones can increase microleakage of amalgam restorations. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of exposure to radiofrequency radiation emitted from indoor Wi-Fi access devices on microleakage of amalgam restorations. Materials and Methods: Standard class V cavities were prepared on the buccal surfaces of 69 extracted human premolar teeth. The samples were divided into two exposure groups and one non-exposed control group of 23 teeth each. The specimens in the experimental groups were exposed to a radiofrequency (RF) radiation emitted from a commercial 2.4 GHz Wi Fi router. The distance between the Wi-Fi router and samples was 30 cm and the router was exchanging data with a laptop computer that was placed 20 m away from the router. Teeth samples in the first exposure group (group A) were exposed to RF for 3 days while the second exposure group (group B) was exposed for 6 days. Then the teeth were sectioned and scored for microleakage under a stereomicroscope. Results: The score of microleakage was significantly higher in the exposure group A compared to that of the control group. However, the score of microleakage was not significantly different between the exposure group B and control group. Furthermore, the scores of microleakage was signifi-cantly higher in the exposure group A than that of the exposure group B. Conclusions: Exposure of patients with amalgam restorations to radiofre-quency waves emitted from commercial Wi-Fi routers can lead to in-creased microleakage of amalgam restorations

Prediction of corona anxiety based on self-diagnosis in vaccinated people

The aim of the current research is to predict corona anxiety based on self-reported illness in vaccinated people at the vaccination center. The method of the current research is quantitative and has been implemented in a descriptive-correlational way, and it is practical in terms of the purpose of this research. The study population of this research is all the people who visited the vaccination center of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) Complex of West Tehran Azad University in the fall of 1400. Among these people, 400 vaccinated people who received the second dose were selected as a sample based on the amount calculated by Gpower software in a simple random manner. Self-diagnosis and Corona anxiety tests were taken from the subject. The data were analyzed using the statistical method of multivariate analysis of covariance. The results show that corona anxiety is predicted based on self-diagnosis. There is a positive and significant effect of the path coefficient of self-care on corona anxiety (p<0.001, β=0.290)