Microplastics: Nacogdoches County’s Hidden Threat

Microplastics and their threat to marine environments are well known, but studies in freshwater environments are few and far between. Microplastics can be created by the breaking down of plastics or in the process of making plastics. They affect biological lifeforms in a multitude of ways, water temperature, permeability of the sediment. Pollution in Texas waterways have motivated groups like the Environmental Protection Agency, Trash Free Texas, and Environment Texas to get involved. The objectives of this study are two analyze Bonita and La Nana Bayou for microplastic presence and to educate and create awareness for Nacogdoches County on microplastics. This study uses the Assessment of Microplastic in Great Plains: Comparing densities in water and benthic sediment across Kansas as a guiding reference. Samples were filtered through a 300 μm mesh sieve, rinsed and fixed with 15mL of 0.1N KOH for 14 days. Microplastics were found in each sample. Data was analyzed using ANOVA Single Factor Test to confirm the hypothesis that the sample sites will not equal one another. Future studies should include more samples and experience

Actionable Patient Safety Solution (APSS) #3D: Pediatric Adverse Drug Events

In 2001, the ISMP and the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group (PPAG) collaborated to produce the nation’s first set of guidelines to reduce pediatric medication errors (ISMP, 2001). The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has also taken a lead in making recommendations to reduce errors (AAP, 2003). Closure of performance gaps and “getting to zero” medication errors will require the constant vigilance from all healthcare professionals and the commitment of hospitals and healthcare systems to implement action in the form of specific leadership, practice and technology plans. This will lead to a decrease in medication errors and a reduction in the occurrence of preventable ADEs in pediatric patients

Actionable Patient Safety Solution (APSS) #3D: Pediatric Adverse Drug Events

This report presents a plan of action for introducing a program to reduce the incidence of pediatric adverse drug events (pADEs) and harm ... [that] combine[s] leadership strategies, software (healthcare IT), hardware (drug compounding systems, drug delivery technology, and physiological monitoring systems), and most importantly people (changes in clinical practice, protocols and education) to protect pediatric patients

Actionable Patient Safety Solution (APSS) #3A: Medication Errors

This report presents a plan of action for introducing a program to reduce medication errors, which are a major cause of patient morbidity and mortality

Actionable Patient Safety Solution (APSS) #3D: Pediatric Adverse Drug Events

Preventing ADEs in pediatric patients poses unique challenges because children are particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes from medication errors (preventable adverse events due to wrong medication use). However, it can create a safety culture, which is a culture that promotes patient safety and quality of care while reducing preventable risks and harm

The Impact of Early Identification of Declining Patients: A Quality Improvement Study

This presentation focuses on the prevalence of failure to rescue in healthcare, that we have evidenced in the clinical setting. Proper identification of declining patient health plays a major role in early intervention, resulting in a positive patient outcome. Analyzing common themes in these issues provided a “bigger picture” of the need for proactive patient care.https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/celebration_posters_2023/1034/thumbnail.jp

The Iowa Homemaker vol.6, no.2 Extra

Table of Contents An Invitation to Attend the Dedication of Home Economics Hall by Anna E. Richardson, page 1 In Our New Home at Last by Marcia E. Turner, page 2 Household Equipment by Eloise Davison, page 2 A Walk Around Campus by Vivian Jordan Brashear, page 3 Textiles and Clothing by Frances Sims, page 4 Child Care and Parent Training by Lydia Swanson, page 4 Applied Art by Joanna M. Hansen, page 5 Foods and Nutrition Department by Alma M. Riemenschneider, page 6 Institutional Management by Linda Spence Brown, page 7 Physical Education by Winifred R. Tilden, page 7 Home Economics Vocational Education by Marica E. Turner, page 8 The Department of Hygiene by Grace Magee, page 8 The Household Administration Department by Ruth M. Lindquist, page 9 Homemakers Department by Elizabeth M. Rivers, page

Mycorrhizas and biomass crops: opportunities for future sustainable development

Central to soil health and plant productivity in natural ecosystems are in situ soil microbial communities, of which mycorrhizal fungi are an integral component, regulating nutrient transfer between plants and the surrounding soil via extensive mycelial networks. Such networks are supported by plant-derived carbon and are likely to be enhanced under coppiced biomass plantations, a forestry practice that has been highlighted recently as a viable means of providing an alternative source of energy to fossil fuels, with potentially favourable consequences for carbon mitigation. Here, we explore ways in which biomass forestry, in conjunction with mycorrhizal fungi, can offer a more holistic approach to addressing several topical environmental issues, including ‘carbon-neutral’ energy, ecologically sustainable land management and CO2 sequestration

Incidental nutrient transfers: Assessing critical times in agricultural catchments using high-resolution data

AbstractManaging incidental losses associated with liquid slurry applications during closed periods has significant cost and policy implications and the environmental data required to review such a measure are difficult to capture due to storm dependencies. Over four years (2010–2014) in five intensive agricultural catchments, this study used high-resolution total and total reactive phosphorus (TP and TRP), total oxidised nitrogen (TON) and suspended sediment (SS) concentrations with river discharge data to investigate the magnitude and timing of nutrient losses. A large dataset of storm events (defined as 90th percentile discharges), and associated flow-weighted mean (FWM) nutrient concentrations and TP/SS ratios, was used to indicate when losses were indicative of residual or incidental nutrient transfers. The beginning of the slurry closed period was reflective of incidental and residual transfers with high storm FWM P (TP and TRP) concentrations, with some catchments also showing elevated storm TP:SS ratios. This pattern diminished at the end of the closed period in all catchments. Total oxidised N behaved similarly to P during storms in the poorly drained catchments and revealed a long lag time in other catchments. Low storm FWM P concentrations and TP:SS ratios during the weeks following the closed period suggests that nutrients either weren't applied during this time (best times chosen) or that they were applied to less risky areas (best places chosen). For other periods such as late autumn and during wet summers, where storm FWM P concentrations and TP:SS ratios were high, it is recommended that an augmentation of farmer knowledge of soil drainage characteristics with local and detailed current and forecast soil moisture conditions will help to strengthen existing regulatory frameworks to avoid storm driven incidental nutrient transfers