Cost-Effectiveness of Wound Care: A concept analysis

This review aimed to analyse the concept of cost-effectiveness within the context of chronic wound care using Walker and Avant’s approach. The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature® (EBSCO Information Services, Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA), MEDLINE® (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA) and Nursing & Allied Health® (ProQuest LLC, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA) databases were searched using a combination of keywords. A total of 18 peer-reviewed articles were identified. In wound care, defining attributes for the concept of cost-effectiveness encompassed treatments which were both effective and economical. Four antecedents were identified, including the type of wound, care setting, type of dressing and patient-related characteristics. The consequences of cost-effective wound care were patient prognosis, quality of life, the economic burden on the patient and healthcare system and cost-savings. These findings will hopefully help to standardise cost-effectiveness terminology among nursing professionals in various healthcare settings. Keywords: Cost Effectiveness; Wounds and Injuries; Healthcare Costs; Nursing; Concept Formation

The Effect of Repeated Simulation Experience on Undergraduate Students\u27 Self-Confidence

Nursing simulation is an innovative learning method that was introduced to nursing education to enhance and strengthen students’ experiences during patient-encounters. The nursing simulation involves briefing, simulation experience, and debriefing. However, this arrangement is not fixed and it could be modified for the teaching process. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of repeated simulation experience post debriefing on the students’ self-confidence. This study was guided by Albert Bandura self-efficacy theory. A quasi-experimental one-group repeated measures design was used, and the independent variable of the study was a repeated simulation experience following debriefing with a dependent variable of student’s self-confidence. The study was conducted at the College of Nursing and Health Professions (CONHP) at Valparaiso University. A convenience sample involving junior and senior students (N = 127), who were enrolled during Nursing Care for Child bearing Family and Nursing Care for Child rearing Family course in fall 2016, was recruited. A self-reported modified General Self–efficacy Scale was used to measure student’s confidence by using Likert scale. The survey included two parts: (a) demographic form, and (b) the self-efficacy form. Students completed the self-efficacy survey three times: (a) at the beginning of the simulation, (b) following the first simulation experience and before debriefing, and (c) at the end of the repeated simulation. Findings showed a significant difference on the students’ self-confidence following repeated simulation experience. This finding could encourage nursing faculty to adopt or modify the repeated simulation experience as a perfect delivery method in nursing education

Estimating the noise-related error in continuous-time integrator-based ADCs

From first-order incremental ΣΔ converters to controlled-oscillator-based converters, many ADC architectures are based on the continuous-time integration of the input signal. However, the accuracy of such converters cannot be properly estimated without establishing the impact of noise. In fact, noise is also integrated, resulting in a random error that is added to the measured value. Since drifting phenomena may make simulations and practical measurements unable to ensure longterm reliability of the converters, a theoretical tool is required. This paper presents a solution to compute the standard deviation of the noise-generated error in continuous-time integrator-based ADCs, under the assumption that a previous measure is used to calibrate the system. In addition to produce a realistic case, this assumption allows to handle a theoretical issue that made the problem not properly solvable. The theory is developed, the equations are solved in the cases of pure white noise, pure flicker noise and low-pass filtered white noise, and the implementation issues implied by the provided formulas are addressed

On performance scaling and speed of junctionless transistors

A prospective study of the junctionless transistors (JLTs) scaling performances based both on TCAD and analytical evaluations of the intrinsic delay after considering on/off voltage constraints is proposed. The tradeoffs between speed and switching power performances in regard to the JLT parameters are analyzed. It is demonstrated that JLTs performances in terms of speed are very similar to that of regular bulk MOSFETs, and that increasing the drive current and speed still needs to shrink the gate oxide just as in MOSFETs. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Silicon-on-Insulator technology for imaging and application to a switching photodetector

This paper analyzes some advantages of Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) based photodetectors for low light imaging. It shows that SOI based sensors not only solve the bulk carriers problem, it can also act as a very selective spectral filter by acting as a resonant cavity, which is useful in application with a very narrow spectrum of interest, such as bioluminescence imaging. The SOI implementation of a switching photodetector based with an hybrid MOS-PN structure is presented and its advantages in terms of dark current minimization and SNR improvement highlighted

A Dual-Edge Pulsewidth Modulator for Fast Dynamic Response DC-DC Converters

Voltage regulator modules are dc-dc converters that power modern microprocessors. They must exhibit a fast dynamic response, in order to achieve satisfactory regulation performance in spite of the rapid load current variations. The pulsewidth modulator is one of the elements that determine the converter transient response. This letter introduces a dual-edge modulator that outperforms conventional modulation schemes in terms of both small-and large-signal dynamic performances: first, its small-signal transfer function exhibits a phase boost action in the high-frequency range, enabling the design of robust, wide-bandwidth control loops. Furthermore, it introduces a reduced expected delay in response to a large-signal perturbation. The modulator transfer function is derived in this letter using the describing function approach, and it is validated by comparing its predictions to SIMPLIS simulations and to the measured loop transfer function of a synchronous buck converter, designed in a 130 nm CMOS technology

A dynamic operation of a PIN photodiode

Traditionally, photodiodes operate at static reverse bias, and incident light intensity is obtained from the relatively week photocurrent. In this paper, we introduce a different concept of photodiode function: the photodiode is used in a dynamic regime where it is switched from the reverse to forward state. Thus, the light intensity is defined not by the measured photocurrent but by the delay time of appearance of the strong forward current with the amplitude independent of the light intensity. Our experimental results as well as finite element modeling show that the dynamic mode of photodiode operation can potentially provide an improvement of the device performance. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC