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Objectives/Background: The Geriatric Surgery Verification (GSV) Program promotes clinical standards aimed to optimize the quality of surgical care delivered to older adults. The purpose of this study was to determine if preliminary implementation of the GSV Program standards improves surgical outcomes. Design: Prospective study with cohort matching. Setting: Data from a single institution compared with a national data set cohort. Participants: All patients aged ≥75 years undergoing inpatient operations between January 2018 and December 2019 were included. Cohort matching by age and procedure code was performed using a national data set. Measurements: Baseline pre‐ and intraoperative characteristics prospectively recorded using Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP) variable definitions. Postoperative outcomes were recorded including complications as defined by VASQIP, 30‐day mortality, and length of stay. Results: A total of 162 patients participated in the GSV program, and 308 patients comprised the matched comparison group. There was no difference in postoperative occurrence of one or more complications (p = 0.81) or 30‐day mortality (p = 0.61). Patients cared for by the GSV Program had a reduced postoperative length of stay (median 4 days [range 1,31] vs. 5 days [range 1,86]; p < 0.01; and mean 5.4 ± 4.8 vs. 8.8 ± 11.8 days; p < 0.01) compared with the matched cohort. In a multivariable regression model, the GSV Program's reduced length of stay was independent of other associated covariates including age, operative time, and comorbidities (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Preliminary implementation of the GSV Program standards reduces length of stay in older adults undergoing inpatient operations. This finding demonstrates both the clinical and financial value of the GSV Program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter is based on three premises. The first premise is that the use of instructional systems design (ISD) methods is important in online as well as traditional classroom settings. A second premise is that improving the motivational design of instruction brings benefits to teachers and learners alike. The third premise, specific to this chapter, is that new technologies and the online environment offer opportunities for enhancing motivation, volition, and performance (MVP) as described by John M. Keller in Chapter 1 of this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canola (Brassica napus L.) is planted in early spring and must survive both low soil temperatures and periods of wet weather. Shoot effects result from both low root temperature and low aeration, but little is known about the interaction between these two environmental factors, particularly with respect to changes in gene products. In this study, canola plants (`46A65') were treated in solution culture. Shoot temperatures were maintained at day/night temperatures of 24/18°C, while roots were maintained at an ambient temperature of 24/18°C, or cooled to 10°C. Roots were either aerated, or not aerated to create hypoxic treatments. Plants with roots in cold and hypoxic solution accumulated starch in the root, and had greater reductions in fresh weight and leaf area than those in either cold or hypoxic treatments alone. Twenty-one changes in protein expression were also found in the cold hypoxic treatment, 17 of which were not found in either cold or hypoxic treatments alone. Gene products up-regulated in leaves included cytochrome oxidase Subunit I (COX1) in response to hypoxia, elongation factor eEF1 γ chain in plants with cooled roots, and chaperonin 10 when roots were cooled without aeration. Results demonstrate the interaction between multiple stresses on a molecular level, and suggest that flooding under cool soil temperatures will be more detrimental to canola than that which occurs at warmer temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within its wide range across Canada, jack pine is exposed to salinity from both natural and anthropogenic sources. To compare the effects of Cl and SO4 on salt injury, sand and solution-culture grown jack pine ( Pinus banksiana Lamb.) seedlings were treated with nutrient solutions containing 60 or 120 mM NaCl, 60 mM Na2SO4, or a mixture of 60 mM NaCl and 30 mM Na2SO4. After 5 weeks of salt treatments, concentrations of Cl, K, Na, and SO4 were determined in roots, stem and needles of the current and previous years growth, and in necrotic needles. To determine the role of water uptake in the absorption and translocation of salts in plants, total transpiration was measured as the loss of water from a sealed system and related to total plant uptake of Cl, Na, and SO4. Sodium uptake and root-to-shoot transport rates were greater in treatments containing Cl. A delay in root-to-shoot transport of both Na and Cl indicates retention of these ions in the roots. Electrolyte leakage of needles was more closely related to treatment Cl concentrations than treatment Na concentrations. The transport of Na ions to the shoot was related to the presence of Cl, but was not related to transpiration rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the processing of oil sands from Alberta's Athabasca formation, large quantities of alkaline, saline tailings and associated process‐affected waters are produced. These waters may have a negative effect on plants used in reclamation of mined areas in this region of the northern boreal forest. In the present study, we examined the effects of process‐affected water on the growth and elemental composition of jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) seedlings. Seedlings were grown in sand culture, and treated with tailings water to which mineral nutrients had been added. One‐month‐old seedlings were treated for 14 d, and all measured growth parameters were reduced. Growth and shoot elemental composition were also measured in seven‐month‐old seedlings that were treated for 10 wk with process‐affected water. Shoots had significantly elevated levels of Na, Cl, S, P, B, and Sr, and significantly reduced levels of Fe, Mo, Ba, and K. The relationships between elemental composition and seedling growth and injury were examined using multiple regression. Growth rates, dry weights, and carotenoid content were reduced, but were not related to shoot elemental composition. Needle necrosis was positively related to tissue Na and Cl. Results indicate that reclamation planning must consider substrate Na and Cl levels when planting jack pine on tailings‐affected sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the use of a narrative to interpret student ratings of teachers. Ways in which writing a narrative can help in reading student evaluations; Premises of a well-constructed evaluation plan; Discussion of the most common rating problems; Assessment of the generalizability of ratings.

Discusses various issues on student ratings of instruction. Value of student feedback; Myths on ratings; Basic considerations for good evaluation practice.

Focuses on the use of student ratings to improve the evaluation of researchers and faculty practitioners. Suggestions for improving practice and making student ratings more responsive to the individual; Practical problems in ratings practice; Overview of generalizability of ratings results in changing student populations.

Reviews several motivational models, issues and strategies in higher education. Principles in motivational models; Significance of attributional retraining to students; Factors that affect higher-order learning.

Presents information on how to improve teaching practices of different academic disciplines. Related studies Franklin and Theall, 1992, 1993 and other studies; Rating of teachers' time by students; Statistical information of the study; Other details of the study.

Impervious surfaces, such as roads, parking areas, and buildings, found in cities throughout the world have significant impacts on urban hydrology due to increased volumes and peak flow rates of run‐off delivered to receiving waterbodies. Bioretention practices are a common stormwater control measure used to mitigate the impacts of urban run‐off. When coupled with suspended pavement systems, which provide tree roots with an uncompacted soil matrix that enhances root access to oxygen and water, engineers can design subsurface alternatives to manage urban stormwater. Two suspended pavement systems designed to function as subsurface bioretention practices were installed on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Sap flow sensors using the heat ratio method were installed in two bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) trees to characterize the role of transpiration in the suspended pavement systems. Mean transpiration rates were greater when water availability was higher in the bioretention media. Regression models indicated that atmospheric vapour pressure deficit (kPa) was the most influential environmental parameter on tree transpiration and that stomatal regulation of water losses was evident when water was limiting. Findings from this study illustrate how tree transpiration rates can vary, even between individual trees of the same species, on the basis of conditions within the practice, and provide insight to practitioners on how design parameters influence fine‐scale tree–water relations in bioretention systems to maximize the contributions of transpiration on system hydrology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve patient flow in a surgical environment, practitioners and academicians often use process mapping and simulation as tools to evaluate and recommend changes. We used simulations to help staff visualize the effect of communication and coordination delays that occur on the day of surgery. Perioperative services staff participated in tabletop exercises in which they chose the delays that were most important to eliminate. Using a day-of-surgery computer simulation model, the elimination of delays was tested and the results were shared with the group. This exercise, repeated for multiple groups of staff, provided an understanding of not only the dynamic events taking place, but also how small communication delays can contribute to a significant loss in efficiency and the ability to provide timely care. Survey results confirmed these understandings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]