Determinants of nurses' pain management practices in Jordan: The moderating role of patient's barriers

In spite of the significant advancement in methods and tools associated with pain management, there is still a deficiency in the pain management practices. Therefore, the aim of this study is to empirically determine the level of pain management practices, evaluate the significant predictors of pain management practices (i.e. knowledge, attitude, subjective norm and self-efficacy), examine the moderating effect of patient barriers on the relationship between the predictors and the pain management practices, and to investigate the applicability of Field theory in explaining the pain management practices in Jordan. Six latent variables were involved including five exogenous and one endogenous variables and a cross-sectional survey was used in conducting the study. The instrument is consisted of 93 items adapted from the previous studies. The questionnaires were distributed to 600 nurses in 13 hospitals located in the central region of Jordan. The nurses were selected at random using a multistage cluster technique. Of 600, only 307 questionnaires were returned and used for analysis. Data collection was carried out for the period of six months from October 2014 until March 2015. Data were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings support the majority of the hypothesized relationships, specifically the hypothesized direct effects of attitude, self-efficacy, knowledge, and subjective norms on the pain management practices. In addition, patient-related barriers moderate one of these relationships. That is, the relationship between attitudes towards the pain management and the pain management practices is weaker for nurses who perceived high barriers from their patients as opposed to nurses who perceived low patient-related barriers. Collectively, the determinant variables of pain management practices accounted for 78% of the variance in the pain management practices. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed

Improved in vitro bone-like tissue formation by human trabecular bone cells in a novel three dimensional cultivation system

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Detection of Changes in Land Use/Cover in Muhayil Asir (Saudi Arabia) during 1990 – 2019, Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System

The research aimed to study and analyze the changes of Land Use/Cover and the vegetation patterns in Muhayil Asir Governorate during the period 1990-2019 using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System. Imageries from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Sentinel-2 were used. The visuals underwent the pre-processing and classification analysis using the supervised classification method. The results of the accuracy assessment were 91.02% for the producer\u27s accuracy and 89.9% for the consumer\u27s accuracy. The results showed that the study area has four types of land cover: agricultural land, urban areas, soil (unutilized land) and rocks. The area of agricultural land has increased 18.08 km² (0.94%) during the period 1990 – 2019 and extended towards the areas of urbanization. This change coincided with increased the built areas by 65.19 km² (3.40%). The increase in agricultural and built areas occurred at the expense of unutilized lands which decreased by (-4.34%). There was no change in rock outcrops over the study period. The study concluded that the most important reasons that affected the change in the land cover pattern and applications increase in the population at a rate of 2.03% population growth and the increase in income and expansion of services, which required increasing the horizontal and vertical expansion, which would affect changing patterns of Land Use/Cover for study area. Keywords: Land use, change detection, Remote Sensing, GIS

Cross Cultural Indicators of Independent Learning in Young Children: A Jordanian Case

Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2016. This study attempts to explore the level of Independent Learning (IL) amongst a sample of Jordanian preschoolers. Behaviors of sixty preschool children aged 5-6 years old were observed and rated by their teachers against an Arabic version of the Children\u27s Independent Learning Development (CHILD 3-5) observational instrument to explore the independent learning among young children according to their gender, engagement level, parental education and the size of their families. The results illustrated that preschoolers may show some aspects of behaviors particularly those related to pro-social and cognitive areas. It also indicated that children from high educated environments demonstrated IL behaviors more than those coming from low educated environments. Finally, children coming from larger family size showed less IL behaviors than those coming from smaller ones. Results and implications are discussed

Electronic Switch Arrays for Managing Microbattery Arrays

Integrated circuits have been invented for managing the charging and discharging of such advanced miniature energy-storage devices as planar arrays of microscopic energy-storage elements [typically, microscopic electrochemical cells (microbatteries) or microcapacitors]. The architecture of these circuits enables implementation of the following energy-management options: dynamic configuration of the elements of an array into a series or parallel combination of banks (subarrarys), each array comprising a series of parallel combination of elements; direct addressing of individual banks for charging/or discharging; and, disconnection of defective elements and corresponding reconfiguration of the rest of the array to utilize the remaining functional elements to obtain the desited voltage and current performance. An integrated circuit according to the invention consists partly of a planar array of field-effect transistors that function as switches for routing electric power among the energy-storage elements, the power source, and the load. To connect the energy-storage elements to the power source for charging, a specific subset of switches is closed; to connect the energy-storage elements to the load for discharging, a different specific set of switches is closed. Also included in the integrated circuit is circuitry for monitoring and controlling charging and discharging. The control and monitoring circuitry, the switching transistors, and interconnecting metal lines are laid out on the integrated-circuit chip in a pattern that registers with the array of energy-storage elements. There is a design option to either (1) fabricate the energy-storage elements in the corresponding locations on, and as an integral part of, this integrated circuit; or (2) following a flip-chip approach, fabricate the array of energy-storage elements on a separate integrated-circuit chip and then align and bond the two chips together

Mood state and human evaluation of the thermal environment using virtual settings

Many complaints about indoor conditions are related to unsatisfactory thermal environments. Most research on thermal comfort (TC) considered physical parameters for settings and users yet marginalized the influence of user’s psychological aspects in the process of thermal sensation. Immersive virtual reality (VR) has been used in the built environment to simulate real scenarios. This research examines the effect of mood states on human evaluation of the thermal environment in virtual settings. Forty-four university students from Jordan participated. The experiment followed the ‘Experimental Design Method’ using thermally controlled chamber and TC evaluation using psychological responses developed by Fanger. The participants completed the PANAS-X pre-mood test before watching a video that targeted eliciting predetermined mood states: anger and happiness. The participants were then immersed in two virtual environments and asked to complete ASHRAE 7-point scale of TC. General Linear model was used to analyse the data. The results revealed a relationship between TC, mood state and quality of the indoor environment. Humans’ judgment on TC is a variable mental reaction. The research presents differences between the evaluation of angry and happy people to their thermal environments. This study expands research on the indoor environment quality and develops TC evaluation strategies

Alu-repeat polymorphism in the tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) gene, seminal t-PA concentration, and male fertility impairment: A case-control study

Background: Tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) is a protein involved in the fibrinolytic system that catalyzes the conversion of plasminogen into the active plasmin. The activity of t-PA is controlled by plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. t-PA has crucial functions during spermatogenesis. One polymorphism was reported for t-PA gene, either the presence of a 300-bp Alu-repeat (Alu+) or its absence (Alu−). Objective: The current work aimed at studying the association between Alu polymorphism in the t-PA gene and male infertility. Materials and Methods: Using polymerase chain reaction on genomic DNA isolated from the blood of 79 participants, a region polymorphic for Alu element insertion in t-PA gene was amplified. In addition, total t-PA concentration, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1/t-PA complex concentration, and t-PA activity in seminal plasma were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The results indicate that the percentage of infertile participants (n = 50) who were homozygous for t-PA Alu insertion (Alu+/+), heterozygous Alu+/− or homozygous for t-PA Alu deletion (Alu−/−) did not change significantly (p = 0.43, 0.81, and 0.85, respectively) when compared with the control participants (n = 29). On the other hand, a significant decrease (p = 0.0001) of t-PA total concentration in seminal plasma was observed in the infertile group in comparison with the control group. However, the results indicate that there is no association between the t-PA Alu different genotypes and the total t-PA seminal concentration in the infertile group when compared to the control group (p = 0.63). Conclusion: Data obtained from the current study does not support an association between t-PA Alu polymorphism and t-PA seminal concentration or male infertility. Key words: Alu element, Male infertility, Semen, Spermatogenesis, t-PA

The relative contribution of academic intrinsic motivation and academic self-concept to academic self-handicapping

هدفت هذه الدراسة التعرف الى الاسهام النسبي للدافعية الداخلية الأكاديمية ومفهوم الذات الأكاديمي في التعويق الذات الأكاديمي. وتكونت العينة من (220) طالب وطالبة من الكليات العلمية والإنسانية من جامعة اليرموك. ولتحقيق أهداف الدراسة تم تطبيق مقياس الدافعية الداخلية الأكاديمية ومقياس مفهوم الذات الأكاديمي، ومقياس تعويق الذات الأكاديمي. أشارت نتائج الدراسة إلى عدم وجود فروق دالة إحصائيًا بين المتوسطات الحسابية لمفهوم الذات الأكاديمي تعزى لمتغيري الجنس والكلية. كما أشارت النتائج إلى وجود فروق دالة إحصائيًا بين المتوسطات الحسابية للدافعية الداخلية الأكاديمية تعزى لمتغير الجنس لصالح الذكور، وجود فروق دالة إحصائيًا بين المتوسطات الحسابية للدافعية الداخلية الأكاديمية تعزى لمتغير الكلية. بالإضافة إلى عدم وجود فروق دالة إحصائيًا بين المتوسطات الحسابية في تعويق الذات الأكاديمي تعزى لمتغيري الجنس والكلية. إضافة إلى أن مفهوم الذات الأكاديمي قد فسّر (5.8%) في التنبؤ بتعويق الذات الأكاديمي. كما أنّ مفهوم الذات الأكاديمي، والدافعية الداخلية الاكاديمية معّا يفسران (8.5%) في التنبؤ بتعويق الذات الأكاديمي.This study aimed to identify the relative contribution of academic intrinsic motivation and academic self-concept in academic self-handicapping. The sample consisted of (220) male and female students from scientific and humanities colleges in Yarmouk university. The sample answered on the academic intrinsic motivation scale, the academic self-concept scale, and the academic self-handicapping scale. The results of the study indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the means of the academic self-concept due to the variables of gender and college. The results also indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the means of academic intrinsic motivation due to the gender variable, and there were no statistically significant differences between the means of academic intrinsic motivation due to the college variable. In addition, there were no statistically significant differences between the means of academic self-handicapping due to the variables of gender and college. The results also indicated that academic self-concept explained (5.8%) in predicting academic self-handicapping. Also, the academic self-concept and academic intrinsic motivation together explain (8.5%) in predicting academic self-handicapping