The Design of an Uncertainty Model For The Tidal Constituent and Residual Interpolation (TCARI) Method for Tidal Correction of Bathymetric Data

Recent advances in processing multibeam sonar data brought about by the Combined Uncertainty and Bathymetric Estimator (CUBE) [1] have demonstrated the value of identifying and tracking survey uncertainties. Most of these uncertainties were outlined in Hare, Godin, and Mayer uncertainty model developed in 1995 [2]. That report identified the uncertainties in the various electronic systems used to acquire the bathymetric data. However, one of the largest contributors to the overall error budge t in a near coastal hydrographic survey is that contributed by water level uncertainty. As the ocean mapping industry pushes for ever finer spatial details in its data, the traditional method of discrete tide zoning [3] must be abandoned for a more robust method that can match the requirements of the data. The method currently under investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the Tidal Constituent And Residual Interpolation (TCARI) method [4]. TCARI has the ability to interpolate the water level at a vessel’s position for any location and instance in time. It can also produce a gridded water level surface of the entire survey area. While the potential of this method is encouraging, a rigorous investigation of the uncertainties associated with it has yet to be completed. This research seeks to close that gap by examining the uncertainties in this method, using both observed water level information from around the country as well as data acquired during the original 1995 NOS Kinematic GPS experiment in Galveston Bay, Texas [5]

A discourse analysis of suicide ideation assessment among first year health professional students enrolled in a communications course

Background: Suicide risk assessments require a complex set of skills around a sensitive matter which can be difficult for providers. Aim: Research investigating communication techniques and the language choices used to assess for suicide ideation is limited. Methods: We analyzed 121 video-recorded and transcribed final exams from a communication skills course for first year health professional students to identify patterns and variation in the language choices made to assess for suicidal ideation in standardized patients exhibiting symptoms of depression.  Results: We found that 66 of the 121 (55%) interviews included a suicide assessment. We noted key patterns and variation around when the assessments took place (while exploring depressive symptoms or as a topic shift), how they were prefaced (with ubiquity statements, normalization statements, or expressions of care and concern), and how the question itself was structured (with a negative preference structure, in a non-polar format, or ambiguously). Conclusions: Assessing for suicide is a delicate task for both patients and providers, both of whom may be reluctant to engage around the topic. Utilizing normalization statements as well as statements of care and concern is a good approach to assess suicide idation while exploring depressive symptoms

Impact of an Interprofessional Communication Course on Nursing, Medical, and Pharmacy Students’ Communication Skill Self-Efficacy Beliefs

Objective. To describe an interprofessional communication course in an academic health sciences center and to evaluate and compare interpersonal and interprofessional communication self-efficacy beliefs of medical, nursing, and pharmacy students before and after course participation, using Bandura’s self-efficacy theory as a guiding framework. Design. First-year nursing (n=36), first-year medical (n=73), and second-year pharmacy students (n=83) enrolled in an interprofessional communication skills development course voluntarily completed a 33-item survey instrument based on Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) core competencies prior to and upon completion of the course during the fall semester of 2012. Assessment. Nursing students entered the course with higher interpersonal and interprofessional communication self-efficacy beliefs compared to medical and pharmacy students. Pharmacy students, in particular, noted significant improvements in communication self-efficacy beliefs across multiple domains postcourse. Conclusion. Completion of an interprofessional communications course was associated with a positive impact on health professions students’ interpersonal and interprofessional communication self-efficacy beliefs

Effectiveness of an Adapted Virtual Medication Reconciliation OSCE Compared with In Person OSCE

Introduction: The objective of this study was to measure virtually-based objective structured clinical exam (OSCE) pass rates of student pharmacists who received remote, synchronous instruction on medication reconciliation compared with OSCE pass rates from the previous class, who received face to face synchronous instruction and OSCEs. The secondary objective was to measure student perceptions of remote instruction and OSCE preparation. Materials and Methods: Second year student pharmacists attended four online preparatory labs to learn and practice the process of performing a medication reconciliation. A virtually-based OSCE was used to assess student competency of identifying the primary or life-threatening medication related problem (MRP). Failing to identify the MRP represented a “kill point” and an automatic failing grade. A brief 10-item survey designed to measure student perceptions was sent to all participants post OSCE. Results: Seventy-seven students completed the OSCE and the overall pass rates were similar between the 2020 and 2019 class years (97% vs 94%, respectively; p = 0.24). Survey responses showed students lacked confidence, preferred face-to-face learning rather than online and most described their remote environments as not conducive to learning. Conclusion: Online instruction and assessment was at least as effective as traditional face-to-face methods. however the virtual-based platform was not preferred by learners

Research results of a new combined method in climate adaptation:storytelling in City Climate Scans

Cities are becoming increasingly vulnerable for climate change and there is an urgent need to become more resilient. This research involves the development of the City climate scan Rotterdam (September 2017) methodology to measure, map, scan and assess different parameters that together give insight in the vulnerability of urban areas and neighborhoods. The research at recent City climate scan / Sketch your city in April 2018 used storytelling and sketching1 as main method to connect stakeholders, motivate action, evoke recognition in a jointly formulated goal, such as taking climate action. The city climate scan also involved the development of a set of measurement tools that can be applied in different urban neighborhoods in a low-cost low-tech approach with teams of stakeholders and practitioners. The city climate scan method was tested in different cities around the globe (Rotterdam, Manila and Cebu) in groups of young professionals and stakeholders in rapid urban appraisals

Polarizable Water Model for the Coarse-Grained MARTINI Force Field

Coarse-grained (CG) simulations have become an essential tool to study a large variety of biomolecular processes, exploring temporal and spatial scales inaccessible to traditional models of atomistic resolution. One of the major simplifications of CG models is the representation of the solvent, which is either implicit or modeled explicitly as a van der Waals particle. The effect of polarization, and thus a proper screening of interactions depending on the local environment, is absent. Given the important role of water as a ubiquitous solvent in biological systems, its treatment is crucial to the properties derived from simulation studies. Here, we parameterize a polarizable coarse-grained water model to be used in combination with the CG MARTINI force field. Using a three-bead model to represent four water molecules, we show that the orientational polarizability of real water can be effectively accounted for. This has the consequence that the dielectric screening of bulk water is reproduced. At the same time, we parameterized our new water model such that bulk water density and oil/water partitioning data remain at the same level of accuracy as for the standard MARTINI force field. We apply the new model to two cases for which current CG force fields are inadequate. First, we address the transport of ions across a lipid membrane. The computed potential of mean force shows that the ions now naturally feel the change in dielectric medium when moving from the high dielectric aqueous phase toward the low dielectric membrane interior. In the second application we consider the electroporation process of both an oil slab and a lipid bilayer. The electrostatic field drives the formation of water filled pores in both cases, following a similar mechanism as seen with atomistically detailed models

Just What is Sprawl, Anyway?

Urban sprawl is a hot-button issue in the U.S. Though the term is widely used to describe the distaste for contemporary American suburban and urban development, a select few group of researchers, academics and practitioners have led the response to the argument against sprawl. This paper seeks to characterize sprawl from the perspective of landscape architecture while focusing on quantitative measurements and definitions of sprawl. At its core it examines the issue of the evolution of urban form through time, and offers options for addressing the debates over the negative or positive ramifications of sprawl