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The authors explore how an evidence-based decision-making process improved National Council Licensure Examination passing rates for a bachelor of science in nursing program. The process is one that may be applicable to other nursing programs despite differences in school mission, philosophy, and student population. The essential components of a nursing program that contribute to student success are examined. Lessons learned and opportunities for more comprehensive pertinent assessment methods are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Log-domain circuits offer a low-power property, whereas wave-derived circuits inherit a low-sensitivity property from the ladder prototypes and are less prone to transistor non-idealities. A novel approach to the design of wave filters in the log-domain is presented and several wave two-port topologies are investigated. Important design properties are examined. Realisations of direct filters, complex filters and group-delay equalisers in typical BJT and HBT SiGe BiCMOS technologies are assessed. The design procedures have been incorporated into XFILTER design software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the identification of general methods for the synthesis of complex band-pass and band-stop analogue filters are developed for implementation by active-RC, gm-C, switched-capacitor (SC) and switchedcurrent (SI) techniques. Extension of the principles to synthesis procedures for log-domain complex realizations; Presentation of circuits for filters and group delay equalizers; Identification of the filter design software.

Superficial temporal arteriography was studied by selective biopsy of abnormal arterial segments and random biopsy of the main stem in 33 patients with clinically supected giant cell arteritis. Of the total of 33 temporal arteriograms 9 showed definite abnormalities (7 in the periphery and 2 in the main stem). Selective biopsy of the 7 peripheral abnormal segments showed arteritis in only 2, narrowing of the vessels in the remainder being due to atheroma (3) and fibrointimal thickening (2)--that is, 5 'false positives' for temporal arteritis on arteriography. Histological evidence of arteritis was found in 9 patients, only 5 of whom had clearly abnormal arteriograms--that is, 4 'false negatives'. Thus temporal arteriography appears to have low sensitivity for identifying arteritic lesions and also frequently gives 'false positive' results. It is concluded that temporal arteriography is not a satisfactory alternative to biopsy, and that its value as an adjunct to selective biopsy is limited because of its frequent failure to detect lesions found histologically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study evaluates the usefulness of some commonly used screening investigations in the management of elderly acutely ill medical patients. It was performed on 50 consecutive admissions to one ward and all patients received a full blood count, ESR, urea and electrolyte estimation, liver function tests, thyroid function tests, examination of a mid-stream urine specimen and P–A chest X-ray examination. When performed in the absence of clinical indication these tests were considered to be screening tests. On assessing the tests performed prospectively, it was shown that only a full blood count, urea and electrolyte estimation, ward testing of urine, and, possibly, a P–A chest X-ray examination are worthwhile screening investigations in this patient population. The ESR and liver function tests and mid-stream urine specimens seem to be of little value in the absence of clinical indication. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Principal component and factor analyses were applied to annual precipitation and runoff data of fourteen watersheds from Coshocton, Ohio, and seven watersheds from Riesel, Texas. The objective was to identify the factors affecting the water yield of these watersheds and to determine the relative importance of the identified factors. From the Ohio watersheds, the rotated factor analysis suggested that watersheds area and slope were, in that order, the two most important factors affecting water yield. For the Texas watersheds, three almost equally important watershed factors were identified as the soil type, cultural practices, and land capability. A stepwise regression of runoff-precipitation ratios of the Ohio data on area-slope variables substantiated the effects of area and slope on runoff as determined by the factor analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparison was made of specific contact resistivity and morphology of Ti/Al/Pt/WSi/Ti/Au and Ti/Al/Pt/W/Ti/Au ohmic contacts to AlGaN/GaN heterostructures relative to the standard Ti/Al/Pt/Au metallization. The W- and WSi-based contacts show comparable specific resistivities to that of the standard contact on similar layer structures, reaching minimum values of ∼10[sup -5] Ω cm[sup 2] after annealing in the range 850–900 °C. However, the W- and WSi-based contacts exhibit much smoother surface morphologies, even after 950 °C annealing. For example, the root-mean-square roughness of the Ti/Al/Pt/WSi/Ti/Au contact annealed at 950 °C was unchanged from the as-deposited values whereas the Ti/Al/Pt/Au contact shows significant deterioration of the morphology under these conditions. The improved thermal stability of the W- and WSi[sub x]-based contacts is important for maintaining edge acuity during high-temperature operation. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrated that Sc[sub 2]O[sub 3] thin films deposited by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy can be used simultaneously as a gate oxide and as a surface passivation layer on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). The maximum drain source current, I[sub DS], reaches a value of over 0.8 A/mm and is ∼40% higher on Sc[sub 2]O[sub 3]/AlGaN/GaN transistors relative to conventional HEMTs fabricated on the same wafer. The metal-oxide-semiconductor HEMTs (MOS-HEMTs) threshold voltage is in good agreement with the theoretical value, indicating that Sc[sub 2]O[sub 3] retains a low surface state density on the A1GaN/GaN structures and effectively eliminates the collapse in drain current seen in unpassivated devices. The MOS-HEMTs can be modulated to +6 V of gate voltage. In particular, Sc[sub 2]O[sub 3] is a very promising candidate as a gate dielectric and surface passivant because it is more stable on GaN than is MgO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sc[sub 2]O[sub 3]-passivated AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were irradiated with 40 MeV protons to a fluence corresponding to approximately 10 years in low-earth orbit (5 × 10[sup 9] cm[sup -2]). Devices with an AlGaN cap layer showed less degradation in dc characteristics than comparable GaN-cap devices, consistent with differences in average band energy. The changes in device performance could be attributed completely to bulk trapping effects, demonstrating that the effectiveness of the Sc[sub 2]O[sub 3] layers in passivating surface states in the drain-source region was undiminished by the proton irradiation. Sc[sub 2]O[sub 3]-passivated AlGaN/HEMTs appear to be attractive candidates for space and terrestrial applications where resistance to high fluxes of ionizing radiation is a criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]