Analysis of Compounded Pharmaceutical Products to Teach the Importance of Quality in an Applied Pharmaceutics Laboratory Course

Objective. To assess the effectiveness of a product-analysis laboratory exercise in teaching students the importance of quality in pharmaceutical compounding. Design. Second-year pharmacy students (N=77) participated in a pharmaceutical compounding laboratory exercise and subsequently analyzed their final product using ultraviolet (UV) spectrometry. Assessment. Reflection, survey instruments, and quiz questions were used to measure how well students understood the importance of quality in their compounded products. Product analysis showed that preparations compounded by students had an error range of 0.6% to 140%, with an average error of 23.7%. Students’ reflections cited common sources of error, including inaccurate weighing, contamination, and product loss during both the compounding procedure and preparation of the sample for analysis. Ninety percent of students agreed that the exercise improved their understanding of the importance of quality in compounded pharmaceutical products. Most students (85.7%) reported that this exercise inspired them to be more diligent in their preparation of compounded products in their future careers. Conclusion. Integrating an analytical assessment during a pharmaceutical compounding laboratory can enhance students’ understanding of quality of compounded pharmaceutical products. It can also provide students a chance to reflect on sources of error to improve their compounding technique in the future

Evaluation of a research circulation control airfoil using Navier-Stokes methods

The compressible Reynolds time averaged Navier-Stokes equations were used to obtain solutions for flows about a two dimensional circulation control airfoil. The governing equations were written in conservation form for a body-fitted coordinate system and solved using an Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) procedure. A modified algebraic eddy viscosity model was used to define the turbulent characteristics of the flow, including the wall jet flow over the Coanda surface at the trailing edge. Numerical results are compared to experimental data obtained for a research circulation control airfoil geometry. Excellent agreement with the experimental results was obtained

Waging Peace: Female Legislators and a State’s Propensity for War

Increasing conflict in the international system prompts policymakers and researchers alike to investigate unconventional methods of creating and maintaining peace. For decades, feminist theorists have argued that women exert a pacifying influence at all levels of society; by extension, their engagement in government would temper the aggressive tendencies of states. It stands to reason that the presence of female legislators in a state’s political system decreases its likelihood of conflict

Perceptions of Job Satisfaction in an ICF/MR Environment

This paper examines the relationship between perceived communication between employees, their supervisor, and the effect of perceived communication on overall job satisfaction of the employee in an ICF/MR environment. The paper also examines the length of time in a particular job and the potential effects of time as a predictor of overall job satisfaction. Benefits and communication are also examined in an attempt to determine which of the two makes the better predictor of overall job satisfaction for employees working in an ICF/MR environment. The subjects examined came from respondents to an employee attitude survey conducted by a large provider of residential services to people with mental retardation in a rural Eastern state in the fall of 2000. The respondents came from four geographic regions within the state and comparisons between the regions were made. Differences between management and direct care employees were observed. Some differences between the two were noted with time as a predictor of overall job satisfaction and with satisfaction with supervisors

Dyslexia and Medicine: The experience and the impact of dyslexia on the education, training, and practice of doctors.

Introduction: Dyslexia is the most common specific learning difficulty, affecting of about 6% of the population. In medicine, the numbers of learners disclosing a diagnosis of dyslexia is rising. Small-scale studies have begun to venture into the effects of dyslexia on the education of medical students, and doctors in foundation year training and beyond. There is a call for research to develop a more nuanced understanding of how dyslexia affects doctors during their training and practice. Methodology: Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, this project aimed to develop a greater understanding of the ways in which dyslexia affects the training and practice of doctors. The data collection followed a three-phase approach, employing semi-structured interviews, a Self-Characterisation Sketch exercise, and Critical Incident Reflection audio-diaries. Analysis: In-depth, idiographic analysis of anonymised case studies for 10 doctors in training across a variety of specialties, from England and Wales was undertaken. The detail of the analysis cannot be adequately captured in a short summary but the overarching themes identified in the data included: Self; Belonging; and Coping. Each theme is supported by subthemes: good enough, chaos and power of the label; black sheep, conformity, and community; and difficulties and capabilities, agency and attribution, and strategies and risk, respectively. Notable ‘pearls’ within the data included the notion of partitioning, and that of brute failure. Discussion: The in-depth analysis of these doctors’ experience of their dyslexia, with reference to their education, training and practice, provides a unique insight into an unstudied aspect of lived experience of doctors. The analysis of the data from these doctors offers a unique understanding of self-concept, attribution and learned helplessness. These findings bear significance for engaging with, and seeking help from the team and wider structures in medical education. Synthesis of this analysis with wider literature would suggest a role for self-compassion and individual counselling approaches in medical education.I was in grateful receipt of a Studentship from the College of Social Sciences and International Studie

Many Truths: A Case Record Review of How Teaching a Dance Class for Students with Special Needs Shaped My Professional Identity

This thesis is a self-reflective exploration of an ongoing investigation into my professional identity development using a case record review. The purpose of this review was to gain a better understanding of how my knowledge of dance/movement therapy influenced my facilitation of a dance class for students with special needs. This process took place through the teaching of a community dance class for students with special needs called Friday Night Dance Party (FNDP). This review utilized historical data in the form of a reflection sheet, art making, and stream of consciousness journaling completed after each class. Upon the completion of data collection, theme analysis resulted in the following themes: staying grounded within my own body through the use of breath, offering flexible class structure with choice in the dance classroom, use of my informed intuition, and improvisation. A dance performance illustrating my use of the frameworks of dance/movement therapy and dance education, in the creation of a dance class for special needs students was presented at the Columbia College Chicago Department of Creative Arts Therapies’ Annual Student and Faculty Benefit Concert in July 2017. 77 pages

Analysis of a theoretically optimized transonic airfoil

Numerical optimization was used in conjunction with an inviscid, full potential equation, transonic flow analysis computer code to design an upper surface contour for a conventional airfoil to improve its supercritical performance. The modified airfoil was tested in a compressible flow wind tunnel. The modified airfoil's performance was evaluated by comparison with test data for the baseline airfoil and for an airfoil developed by optimization of leading edge of the baseline airfoil. While the leading edge modification performed as expected, the upper surface re-design did not produce all of the expected performance improvements. Theoretical solutions computed using a full potential, transonic airfoil code corrected for viscosity were compared to experimental data for the baseline airfoil and the upper surface modification. These correlations showed that the theory predicted the aerodynamics of the baseline airfoil fairly well, but failed to accurately compute drag characteristics for the upper surface modification