Hydrologic-economic Feasibility Study on Precipitation Augmentation Over the Great Lakes

published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewedOpe

The Effects of the HCAHPS Learning Module on Undergraduate Nursing Students During the Simulated Hospital Day

The introduction of the Affordable Care Act has brought about change in the way the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimburses for hospital care. Hospitals are being rewarded for making the patient experience a positive one as evaluated by the patients. This information is provided through the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. These survey results allow consumers to compare hospitals locally and nationally with other hospitals. Patients are able to evaluate the hospitals in their area and make informed decisions about where they want to get their care based on previous patients’ experiences. In addition to comparisons with other hospitals, facilities are eligible for improved reimbursements based on the HCAHPS scores. With these two incentives it is in the hospital’s best interest to maximize the opportunity to improve the patient experience. With this new focus on reimbursement, hospitals are placing more emphasis on customer service training for their staff and newly hired graduate nurses. This training is focused on improving patient care while at the same time improving the patients’ responses on the HCAHPS survey. Introducing these concepts to undergraduate nursing students will prepare them for expectations they will experience as staff nurses. The aims addressed in this project were to assess if the undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge of HCAHPS and practice could be improved through the implementation of the HCAHPS Survey tool and Learning Module during simulation activities. The undergraduate nursing students’ baseline knowledge of HCAHPS was established, students were provided education through the HCAHPS Learning Module, and an HCAHPS survey was completed on the care they received. The students’ HCAHPS knowledge and practice were assessed. The results showed a statistically significant improvement in the participants’ HCAHPS knowledge. There was no statistical significance noted related to the practice between the students as nurses on Day one or Day two. This project educated the students on how the HCAHPS survey assesses the patient experience and the impact the nurse can have to improve the patients’ responses. This type of training is a win-win for both the hospital and the undergraduate students. The students have been educated and have experience with HCAHPS which should lead to reduced orientation time, more marketability and provide more competent patient centered care

Automatic assembly design project 1968/9: report of technical survey committee

An Industrial survey has been carried out to determine the desired features of an automatic as machine. A questionnaire was circulated to industry and the results of the 38% response obtained were analysed and plotted. From these, conclusions were drawn as to the industrial requirements of an assembly machine

Psychopathic Personality Traits and Iowa Gambling Task Performance in Incarcerated Offenders

There is a paucity of research on how psychopathy relates to decision-making. In this study, we assessed the relationship between affective decision-making and psychopathic personality. A sample of prisoners (n D 49) was characterized in terms of psychopathic traits using the Psychopathic Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV). Decision-making was assessed using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Higher levels of psychopathy related to more advantageous choices (p D .003). Also counter-intuitively, higher levels of antisocial traits (facet 4) predicted advantageous choices during the learning phase of the task (p D .004). Our findings suggest that some psychopathic facets may be more relevant to decisionmaking under risk, and highlight the importance of further investigations considering facet and trait-level relationships with decision-making

Winter Active Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) Achieve High Foraging Rates in Urban Britain

Background: Foraging bumblebees are normally associated with spring and summer in northern Europe. However, there have been sightings of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris during the warmer winters in recent years in southern England. But what floral resources are they relying upon during winter and how much winter forage can they collect? Methodology/Principal Findings: To test if urban areas in the UK provide a rich foraging niche for bees we set up colonies of B. terrestris in the field during two late winter periods (2005/6 & 2006/7) in London, UK, and measured their foraging performance. Fully automatic radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology was used in 2006/7 to enable us to record the complete foraging activity of individually tagged bees. The number of bumblebees present during winter (October 2007 to March 2008) and the main plants they visited were also recorded during transect walks. Queens and workers were observed throughout the winter, suggesting a second generation of bee colonies active during the winter months. Mass flowering shrubs such as Mahonia spp. were identified as important food resources. The foraging experiments showed that bees active during the winter can attain nectar and pollen foraging rates that match, and even surpass, those recorded during summer. Conclusions/Significance: B. terrestris in the UK are now able to utilise a rich winter foraging resource in urban parks and gardens that might at present still be under-exploited, opening up the possibility of further changes in pollinato

Study of aircraft in intraurban transportation systems, volume 1

An analysis of an effective short range, high density computer transportation system for intraurban systems is presented. The seven county Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area, was chosen as the scenario for the analysis. The study consisted of an analysis and forecast of the Detroit market through 1985, a parametric analysis of appropriate short haul aircraft concepts and associated ground systems, and a preliminary overall economic analysis of a simplified total system designed to evaluate the candidate vehicles and select the most promising VTOL and STOL aircraft. Data are also included on the impact of advanced technology on the system, the sensitivity of mission performance to changes in aircraft characteristics and system operations, and identification of key problem areas that may be improved by additional research. The approach, logic, and computer models used are adaptable to other intraurban or interurban areas