Recreational reading program for sixth grade students

The purposes of this study were to determine how much time was dedicated to recreational reading by sixth grade students and what were the topics and genres that interested them. Questionnaires were administered to 201 out of 257 regular education sixth grade students regardless of gender and reading level. According to the results, there was a direct correlation between the types of books that the students enjoyed reading, their opinions on student choice of recreational reading books versus teacher choice of assigned books, and the types of books that they would like to have more of as required reading for English class. Recommendations about how to formulate a sixth grade recreational reading program are discussed

History as reflective practice: a model for integrating historical studies into nurse education

The role of history in developing professional identity in nursing is well known, and the discipline of nursing history research continues to flourish. Yet this work often struggles to find its way into undergraduate university nurse education courses. We put forward a model for history as reflective practice in which we suggest that historical studies can be used as a form of evidence to develop critical thinking and clinical reasoning, as well as situate nursing practice within its social and political context. In this model, we draw on historical scholarship related to the profession, practice and person, focusing on work which demonstrates nursing\u27s contribution to broader systems of health care. Drawing on Lewenson and Lynaugh\u27s \u27history by stealth\u27 approach, curriculum mapping and constructive alignment techniques are used to identify the moments in an existing programme where historical scholarship is relevant to an intended learning outcome. We then use an interdisciplinary team to develop learning activities and assessment tasks drawing on both primary and secondary sources that are then embedded within existing subjects. This model encourages students to consider history as a way of knowing and as a form of evidence within their reflective practice. Furthermore, it creates knowledge that continues to foster and acknowledge nurses\u27, and nursing\u27s, contribution to the development of human health

Monotherapy with major antihypertensive drug classes and risk of hospital admissions for mood disorders

Major depressive and bipolar disorders predispose to atherosclerosis, and there is accruing data from animal model, epidemiological, and genomic studies that commonly used antihypertensive drugs may have a role in the pathogenesis or course of mood disorders. In this study, we propose to determine whether antihypertensive drugs have an impact on mood disorders through the analysis of patients on monotherapy with different classes of antihypertensive drugs from a large hospital database of 525 046 patients with follow-up for 5 years. There were 144 066 eligible patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria: age 40 to 80 years old at time of antihypertensive prescription and medication exposure >90 days. The burden of comorbidity assessed by Charlson and Elixhauser scores showed an independent linear association with mood disorder diagnosis. The median time to hospital admission with mood disorder was 847 days for the 299 admissions (641 685 person-years of follow-up). Patients on angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers had the lowest risk for mood disorder admissions, and compared with this group, those on β-blockers (hazard ratio=2.11; [95% confidence interval, 1.12–3.98]; P=0.02) and calcium antagonists (2.28 [95% confidence interval, 1.13–4.58]; P=0.02) showed higher risk, whereas those on no antihypertensives (1.63 [95% confidence interval, 0.94–2.82]; P=0.08) and thiazide diuretics (1.56 [95% confidence interval, 0.65–3.73]; P=0.32) showed no significant difference. Overall, our exploratory findings suggest possible differential effects of antihypertensive medications on mood that merits further study: calcium antagonists and β-blockers may be associated with increased risk, whereas angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers may be associated with a decreased risk of mood disorders

A "Firework" of H2 Knots in the Planetary Nebula NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula)

We present a deep and wide field-of-view (4' × 7') image of the planetary nebula (PN) NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula) in the 2.12 μm H2 v = 1 → 0 S(1) line. The excellent seeing (0farcs4) at the Subaru Telescope, allows the details of cometary knots to be examined. The knots are found at distances of 2farcm2-6farcm4 from the central star (CS). At the inner edge and in the inner ring (up to 4farcm5 from the CS), the knot often show a "tadpole" shape, an elliptical head with a bright crescent inside and a long tail opposite to the CS. In detail, there are variations in the tadpole shapes, such as narrowing tails, widening tails, meandering tails, or multipeaks within a tail. In the outer ring (4farcm5-6farcm4 from the CS), the shapes are more fractured, and the tails do not collimate into a single direction. The transition in knot morphology from the inner edge to the outer ring is clearly seen. The number density of knots governs the H2 surface brightness in the inner ring: H2 exists only within the knots. Possible mechanisms which contribute to the shaping of the knots are discussed, including photoionization and streaming motions. A plausible interpretation of our images is that inner knots are being overrun by a faster wind, but that this has not (yet) reached the outer knots. Based on H2 formation and destruction rates, H2 gas can survive in knots from formation during the late asymptotic giant branch phase throughout the PN phase. These observations provide new constraints on the formation and evolution of knots, and on the physics of molecular gas embedded within ionized gas. Based on data taken with the Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (proposal ID S07B-054).Peer reviewe

The Long-Term Performance Consequences Of Strategic Partnerships In High Tech Industries

In this paper, we examine how inter-firm partnerships impact long-term operating performance. With a global economy, rapid product cycles, capital constraints and advances in technology, firms seldom possess all the capabilities necessary to maintain and grow market share. Consequently, firms rely on a variety of partnerships. Theory suggests that firms enter such relationships to improve performance through access to new products, new markets, or new capabilities. Yet, relatively little is known about the long-term impact of collaborative arrangements such as alliances and established major customer relationships, although such dual partnership arrangements can have a major impact on the firm’s performance success. Our empirical results indicate that inter-firm partnerships affect operating performance, but the impact often depends on the industry, the nature of the firm, and the type of partnership

Fasciola hepatica: isolation and characterisation of a cathepsin L proteinase

Fasciola hepatica, a parasitic trematode, is the causative agent of liver fluke disease. It has been shown previously, that both the migratory and adult worm stage of the parasite secrete multiple cysteine proteinases when they are cultured overnight (Dalton & Heffernan, 1989). In this study, one of these proteinases has been purified by standard chromatographic techniques. The purified enzyme was characterised as a cathepsin L-like proteinase using synthetic substrates, inhibition studies, N-terminal sequencing and immunolocalisation studies. This is the first cathepsin L-like proteinase to be identified in a parasitic trematode. This cathepsin L-like proteinase is capable of cleaving immunoglobulin molecules, and is able to protect newly excysted juveniles from destruction by immune-effector cells when it is included in an eosinophil adherence assay. Antibodies to the purified proteinase are able to neutralise its proteolytic activity in vitro. A partial gene fragment encoding the cathepsin L-like proteinase has been obtained using PCR and subcloning techniques. The cathepsin L-like proteinase is present in all stages of F. hepatica and, hence, is considered an ideal target molecule at which to design a vaccine and/or drug, for use in the control of this agriculturally important parasitic disease

Defects in Actin Dynamics Lead to an Autoinflammatory Condition through the Upregulation of CXCL5

Destrin (DSTN) is a member of the ADF/cofilin family of proteins and is an important regulator of actin dynamics. The primary function of destrin is to depolymerize filamentous actin into its monomeric form and promote filament severing. While progress has been made in understanding the biochemical functions of the ADF/cofilin proteins, the study of an animal model for cells deficient for DSTN provides an opportunity to investigate the physiological processes regulated by proper actin dynamics in vivo. A spontaneous mouse mutant, corneal disease 1(corn1), is deficient for DSTN, which causes epithelial hyperproliferation and neovascularization in the cornea. Dstn(corn1) mice exhibit an actin dynamics defect in the cornea as evidenced by the formation of actin stress fibers in the epithelial cells. Previously, we observed a significant infiltration of leukocytes into the cornea of Dstn(corn1) mice as well as the upregulation of proinflammatory molecules. In this study, we sought to characterize this inflammatory condition and explore the physiological mechanism through which a loss of Dstn function leads to inflammation.Through immunofluorescent analyses, we observed a significant recruitment of neutrophils and macrophages to the Dstn(corn1) cornea, demonstrating that the innate immune system is spontaneously activated in this mutant. The inflammatory chemokine, CXCL5, was ectopically expressed in the corneal epithelial cells of Dstn(corn1) mice, and targeting of the receptor for this chemokine inhibited neutrophil recruitment. An inflammatory reaction was not observed in the cornea of allelic mutant strain, Dstn(corn1-2J), which has a milder defect in actin dynamics in the corneal epithelial cells.This study shows that severe defects in actin dynamics lead to an autoinflammatory condition that is mediated by the expression of CXC chemokines

Birth weight percentile and the risk of term perinatal death.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the association between birth weight percentile and the risk of perinatal death at term in relation to the cause of death. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of all term singleton births in delivery units in Scotland between 1992 and 2008 (n=784,576), excluding perinatal deaths ascribed to congenital anomaly. RESULTS: There were 1,700 perinatal deaths in the cohort, which were not the result of congenital anomaly (21.7/10,000 women at term). We observed a reversed J-shaped association between birth weight percentile and the risk of antepartum stillbirth in all women, but the associations significantly differed (P<.001) according to smoking status. The highest risk (adjusted odds ratio referent to 21st-80th percentile, 95% confidence interval) among nonsmokers was for birth weight third or less percentile (10.5, 8.2-13.3), but there were also positive associations for birth weight percentiles 4th-10th (3.8, 3.0-4.8), 11th-20th (1.9, 1.5-2.4), and 98th-100th (1.8, 1.3-2.4). Among smokers, the associations with being small were weaker and the associations with being large were stronger. We also observed a reversed J-shaped association between birth weight percentile and the risk of delivery-related perinatal death (ie, intrapartum stillbirth or neonatal death), but there was no interaction with smoking. The highest risk was for birth weight greater than the 97th percentile (2.3, 1.6-3.3), but there were also associations with third or less percentile (2.1, 1.4-3.1), 4th-10th (1.8, 1.4-2.4), and 11th-20th (1.5, 1.2-2.0). Analysis of the attributable fraction indicated that approximately one in three antepartum stillbirths and one in six delivery-related deaths at term could be related to birth weight percentile outside the range 21st-97th percentile. CONCLUSION: Effective detection of variation in fetal size at term has potential as a screening test for the risk of perinatal death. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.Supported by the NIHR Cambridge Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre.This version is the author accepted manuscript. This article can also be viewed in advanced access form on the publisher's website at: http://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=9000&issue=00000&article=99411&type=abstract © 2014 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Ground-Ground Data Communication-Assisted Planning and Coordination: Shorter Verbal Communications

A human-in-the-loop simulation was conducted to investigate the operational feasibility, technical requirements, and potential improvement in airspace efficiency of adding a Multi-Sector Planner position. A subset of the data from that simulation is analyzed here to determine the impact, if any, of ground-ground data communication (Data Comm) on verbal communication and coordination for multi-sector air traffic management. The results suggest that the use of Data Comm significantly decreases the duration of individual verbal communications. The results also suggest that the use of Data Comm, as instantiated in the current simulation, does not obviate the need for accompanying voice calls

Nature of the Evidence Base and Approaches to Guide Nutrition Interventions for Individuals: A Position Paper From the Academy of Nutrition Sciences

This Position Paper from the Academy of Nutrition Sciences is the third in a series which describe the nature of the scientific evidence and frameworks that underpin nutrition recommendations for health. This paper focuses on evidence which guides the application of dietary recommendations for individuals. In some situations, modified nutrient intake becomes essential to prevent deficiency, optimise development and health, or manage symptoms and disease progression. Disease and its treatment can also affect taste, appetite and ability to access and prepare foods, with associated financial impacts. Therefore, the practice of nutrition and dietetics must integrate and apply the sciences of food, nutrition, biology, physiology, behaviour, management, communication and society to achieve and maintain human health. Thus, there is huge complexity in delivering evidence-based nutrition interventions to individuals. This paper examines available frameworks for appraising the quality and certainty of nutrition research evidence, the development nutrition practice guidelines to support evidence implementation in practice and the influence of other sources of nutrition information and misinformation. The paper also considers major challenges in applying research evidence to an individual and suggests consensus recommendations to begin to address these challenges in the future. Our recommendations target three groups; those who deliver nutrition interventions to individuals, those funding, commissioning or undertaking research aimed at delivering evidence-based nutrition practice, and those disseminating nutritional information to individuals