Somali Bantu Refugees in Southwest Idaho: Assessment Using Participatory Research

Each year, refugees are forced to leave their homes and country due to result of wars or political turmoil. According to the National Office of Refugees, 2.6 million refugees have settled in the United States (U.S.) since 19751. Idaho is a state in which refugees are resettled. The majority of refugees in Idaho are located in the capitol city of Boise. The refugees come from over the globe including Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. African refugees represent a unique population in the United States and throughout the world. Many African refugees represent a preliterate population; they have no native written language. The refugees speak several different African dialects, with few African refugees who speak English. Many of these refugees are from countries embroiled in civil war, and they have spent years in resettlement camps in countries such as Kenya before achieving permanent placement in the United States (U.S.)

High Natality Rates of Endangered Steller Sea Lions in Kenai Fjords, Alaska and Perceptions of Population Status in the Gulf of Alaska

Steller sea lions experienced a dramatic population collapse of more than 80% in the late 1970s through the 1990s across their western range in Alaska. One of several competing hypotheses about the cause holds that reduced female reproductive rates (natality) substantively contributed to the decline and continue to limit recovery in the Gulf of Alaska despite the fact that there have been very few attempts to directly measure natality in this species. We conducted a longitudinal study of natality among individual Steller sea lions (n = 151) at a rookery and nearby haulouts in Kenai Fjords, Gulf of Alaska during 2003–2009. Multi-state models were built and tested in Program MARK to estimate survival, resighting, and state transition probabilities dependent on whether or not a female gave birth in the previous year. The models that most closely fit the data suggested that females which gave birth had a higher probability of surviving and giving birth in the following year compared to females that did not give birth, indicating some females are more fit than others. Natality, estimated at 69%, was similar to natality for Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska prior to their decline (67%) and much greater than the published estimate for the 2000s (43%) which was hypothesized from an inferential population dynamic model. Reasons for the disparity are discussed, and could be resolved by additional longitudinal estimates of natality at this and other rookeries over changing ocean climate regimes. Such estimates would provide an appropriate assessment of a key parameter of population dynamics in this endangered species which has heretofore been lacking. Without support for depressed natality as the explanation for a lack of recovery of Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska, alternative hypotheses must be more seriously considered

Detailed Analysis of a Contiguous 22-Mb Region of the Maize Genome

Most of our understanding of plant genome structure and evolution has come from the careful annotation of small (e.g., 100 kb) sequenced genomic regions or from automated annotation of complete genome sequences. Here, we sequenced and carefully annotated a contiguous 22 Mb region of maize chromosome 4 using an improved pseudomolecule for annotation. The sequence segment was comprehensively ordered, oriented, and confirmed using the maize optical map. Nearly 84% of the sequence is composed of transposable elements (TEs) that are mostly nested within each other, of which most families are low-copy. We identified 544 gene models using multiple levels of evidence, as well as five miRNA genes. Gene fragments, many captured by TEs, are prevalent within this region. Elimination of gene redundancy from a tetraploid maize ancestor that originated a few million years ago is responsible in this region for most disruptions of synteny with sorghum and rice. Consistent with other sub-genomic analyses in maize, small RNA mapping showed that many small RNAs match TEs and that most TEs match small RNAs. These results, performed on ∼1% of the maize genome, demonstrate the feasibility of refining the B73 RefGen_v1 genome assembly by incorporating optical map, high-resolution genetic map, and comparative genomic data sets. Such improvements, along with those of gene and repeat annotation, will serve to promote future functional genomic and phylogenomic research in maize and other grasses

Incivility in Nursing Education: A Descriptive Study of Definitions and Prevalence

Evidence suggests that incivility on American college campuses, ranging from insulting remarks and verbal abuse to violence, is a serious and growing concern. Faculty and students are often unsure how to address these behaviors. Therefore, 32 (88.9%) nursing faculty and 324 (69.4%) nursing students at one university completed a survey to gather their perceptions of student and faculty behaviors that may be considered uncivil. Student behaviors most frequently reported as uncivil by faculty included making disapproving groans, making sarcastic remarks or gestures, not paying attention in class, dominating class discussions, using cell phones during class, and cheating on examinations. The majority of faculty reported that uncivil student behaviors occurred rarely or sometimes. Examples of faculty behaviors considered uncivil by students included canceling class without warning, being unprepared for class, not allowing open discussion, being disinterested or cold, belittling or taunting students, delivering fast-paced lectures, and not being available outside of class. Students perceived incivility as a moderate problem in the nursing academic environment. It is imperative that nurse educators help students and faculty cope effectively with these behaviors; the authors discuss strategies to do so

Nurse Residents’ First-Hand Accounts on Transition to Practice

Background The first year of nursing practice is critical to developing new graduate nurses into safe practitioners. Many new graduate nurses leave the profession because of job stress, lack of organizational support, poor nurse-physician relations, unreasonable workloads, uncivil work environments, and difficulty transitioning into practice. In response, Nurse Residency programs reflect an organizational commitment to support new nurses, allowing them time and support to become competent professional nurses. Purpose and method Thirty-seven new graduate nurses employed in a hospital in a northwestern state participated in a descriptive qualitative study to examine the “lived experience” as new nurses and to assess the level of job satisfaction during the first year of their nursing practice. Results New graduate nurses described themes related to their first year of nursing practice including rhythm in the chaos, feeling valued, stress from ‘not knowing’, life-long learning, and preserving the profession. Conclusions Having supportive preceptors and nursing staff, feeling valued by the health care team, and being perceived as a vital member of the organization contributed to job satisfaction and overall commitment to the profession

A Structural Analysis and Restoration of the Worcester State Hospital

In this project, we redesigned an abandoned, four-story masonry building in both steel and reinforced concrete. The renovation process for an aged masonry structure of this size was analyzed, along with a few typical situations due to the buildings unique profile and structure. Green Engineering was also a large factor in the design of the building, in an effort to decrease the cost and energy consumption

Policy Development for Disruptive Student Behaviors

The nation watched in shocked disbelief as tragedy unfolded on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) on April 16, 2007. We were riveted by the news stories detailing the carnage, and for those of us who teach and learn in higher education, many relived the horror of the 3 nursing professors of the University of Arizona who were gunned down 5 years earlier. The shooter at Virginia Tech led a troubled life. Some students complained that the killer had stalked them, whereas others skipped class because of his strange behavior. As educators, we yearned for understanding as we grieved for the victims and their loved ones-and struggled with how to prevent these shootings from happening again. Within hours after the violence at Virginia Tech, social scientists, religious leaders, and psychiatric professionals questioned the role of academic leaders in preventing these atrocities. By relative measure, universities remain safe places; however, acts of incivility and violence make us pause to reexamine our policies, procedures, and general campus readiness

Development and Description of the Culture/Climate Assessment Scale

This article describes the development, implementation, and preliminary psychometric testing of the Culture/ Climate Assessment Scale (CCAS), designed and used by a school of nursing. The CCAS comprises 37 items arranged into five scales of communication, decision support, level of conflict, teamwork, and general work satisfaction, as well as three additional items that measure personal level of stress, perceived level of change, and overall level of morale. Faculty and staff completed the CCAS in three progressive administrations over a 5-year period to provide empirical data to chart the progress to improve the organizational culture and climate of one school of nursing. Preliminary testing of the CCAS supports its continued use in nursing education and other academic environment

Nuclear proliferation in the context of the U.N. N.P.T.

The non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is a process bound by cultural, political, economic and sociological factors. This project will increase the precision of the definitions and characterizations of these factors both qualitatively and quantitatively. A procedure is created that can be useful as a means for assessing a state's nuclear program measuring threat levels ranked and categorized into analytical scenarios