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Background and Purpose:Nursing education programs must ensure the quality of student clinical learning experiences. The purpose of this paper is to present psychometric data on the revised digital version of the Student Evaluation of Clinical Education Environment (SECEE) v.4 instrument.Methods:Data were extracted retrospectively from student SECEE evaluations completed between 2016 and 2019.Results:Reliability coefficients for each of the three SECEE subscales were .92 and above. Exploratory factor analysis indicated strong loadings of all selected items on the pre-identified subscales, explaining 71.8% of total score variance. The inventory scale scores were able to discriminate differences between individual clinical sites, between clinical faculty, and between student level in the program.Conclusion:Analysis supports the reliability and validity of the revised instrument and a sizable improvement in total variance accounted for by the contained subscales compared to previous SECEE versions.

Identification of the key biotic and abiotic drivers within food webs is important for understanding species abundance changes in ecosystems, particularly across ecotones where there may be strong variation in interaction strengths. Using structural equation models and four decades of integrated data from the San Francisco Estuary, we investigated the relative effects of top-down, bottom-up, and environmental drivers on multiple trophic levels of the pelagic food web along an estuarine salinity gradient and at both annual and monthly temporal resolutions. For zooplankton and estuarine fishes, bottom-up effects appeared to be stronger in the freshwater upstream regions, while top-down effects were stronger in the brackish downstream regions. Interestingly, this contrasts with hypotheses that freshwater systems have stronger top-down effects than marine systems due to the more limited spatial range of their predators. The net effect of environmental drivers was similar to or greater than bottom-up and top-down effects for all food web components. Some relationships (e.g., bottom-up effects of phytoplankton on zooplankton) were seen primarily at annual timescales, whereas others (e.g., temperature effects) were only observed at monthly timescales. Overall, our results provide strong evidence that environmental gradients can structure the relative strengths of bottom-up, top-down, and environmental drivers within food webs. This advances our understanding of the influence of environmental drivers on species interactions, as well as the mechanisms behind variability in the relative strengths of bottom-up and top-down drivers among habitats and ecosystems. Furthermore, these findings can help identify which trophic levels or environmental factors could be targeted by management actions to have the greatest impact on estuarine forage fishes. This approach of leveraging long-term datasets to identify trophic interactions is applicable to a wide range of systems, including complex, dynamic systems along environmental gradients.

Recycling systems aboard spacecraft are currently limited to approximately 80% water recovery from urine. To address challenges associated with odors, contamination, and microgravity fluid flow phenomena, current systems use toxic pretreatment chemicals, filters, and rotary separators. Herein, a semipassive and potentially contaminant- and biofouling-free approach to spacecraft urine processing is developed by combining passive liquid–gas separation, nanophotonic pasteurization, and noncontact Leidenfrost droplet distillation. The system aims to achieve >98% water recovery from wastewater streams in zero, Lunar, Martian, and terrestrial gravitational environments. The surfaces of the phase separator are coated with carbon black nanoparticles that are irradiated by infrared light-emitting diodes (LEDs) producing hyperlocal heating and pasteurization during urine collection, separation, and storage. For the prescribed flow rate and timeline, the urine is then introduced into a heated 8.5-m-long helical hemicircular aluminum track. The low pitch and the high temperature of the track combine to establish weakly gravity-driven noncontact Leidenfrost droplet distillation conditions. In our technology demonstrations, salt-free distillate and concentrated brine are successfully recovered from saltwater feed stocks. We estimate equivalent system mass metrics for the approach, which compare favorably to the current water recovery system aboard the International Space Station.

From micro to planetary scales, spatial heterogeneity-patchiness-is ubiquitous in ecosystems, defining the environments in which organisms move and interact. However, most large-scale models still use spatially averaged 'mean fields' to represent natural populations, while fine-scale spatially explicit models are mostly restricted to particular organisms or systems. In a conceptual paper, Grünbaum (2012, Interface Focus 2: 150-155) introduced a heuristic, based on three dimensionless ratios quantifying movement, reproduction and resource consumption, to characterise patchy ecological interactions and identify when mean-field assumptions are justifiable. We calculated these dimensionless numbers for 33 interactions between consumers and their resource patches in terrestrial, aquatic and aerial environments. Consumers ranged in size from bacteria to whales, and patches lasted from minutes to millennia, with separation scales from mm to hundreds of km. No interactions could be accurately represented by naive mean-field models, though 19 (58%) could be partially simplified by averaging out movement, reproductive or consumption dynamics. Clustering interactions by their non-dimensional ratios revealed several unexpected dynamic similarities. For example, bacterial Pseudoalteromonas exploit nutrient plumes similarly to Mongolian gazelles grazing on ephemeral steppe vegetation. We argue that dimensional analysis is valuable for characterising ecological patchiness and can link widely different systems into a single quantitative framework.

Of all procedures, airway management is one of, if not, the most important. Providers must be comfortable and competent to manage an airway to provide oxygenation and ventilation. When those elements cannot be accomplished, we are in a “Can’t Ventilate/Can’t Oxygenate” situation. Those times call for a back-up airway rescue plan. There are several techniques that are discussed in this chapter. The prepared provider will have a “Plan B, C, D, etc.” when approaching a difficult airway or failed airway. This chapter discusses many options providers should be familiar with before managing an airway.

International audience; Electrochemical water treatment is one of the key topics of environmental electrochemistry. Identifying electrocatalytic materials capable of electrogenerating high oxidant species in situ seems to have catalyzed researchers' interest in these processes. While most studies have focused on ideal lab-made solutions, translation to higher technology readiness levels and commercialization requires reframing research questions in context of real water matrices. In this current opinion, we discuss disconnects that may occur when focusing on synthetic solutions treatment rather than real waters. Future research can fill the gaps identified herein, thus facilitating application of electrochemical water treatment technologies.

Removing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from a spacecraft environment for deep space exploration requires a robust system that is low in weight, power, and volume. Current state-of-the-art microgravity compatible CO2 removal systems, such as the carbon dioxide removal assembly (CDRA), utilize solid sorbents that demand high power usage due to high desorption temperatures and a large volume to accommodate for their comparatively low capacity for CO2. Additionally, solid sorbent systems contain several mechanical components that significantly reduce reliability and contribute to a large overall mass. A liquid sorbent based system has been evaluated as an alternative is proposed to consume 65% less power, weight, and volume than solid based CO2 scrubbers. This paper presents the design of a liquid sorbent CO2 removal system for microgravity applications.

The aim of this paper is to outline the issues surrounding online support for open and distance learners in a dual-mode department. In recent years with the acceptance of learning as a lifelong process, many UK universities have broadened their remit to embrace a larger and more diverse learner population. This cultural change in education policy has corresponded with rapid developments in educational technology. The Open Learning Unit (OLU), University of Wales, Aberystwyth, was established in 1993 specifically to develop open and distance learning degree schemes. It is directed by an educational philosophy of learner-centred, open and flexible learning. Central to this work is the implementation and maintenance of a learner support system, which includes the use of computer conferencing. Using over 600 distance learners from a Department of Information Studies as a case study, this paper aims to outline the issue of support for open and distance learners, describe the benefits and barriers of computer conferencing as a support medium, and consider the potential of social cognition research to investigate lurking behaviour in online teaching and learning environments.

Comparison of the development of three types of health information course indicates some common opportunities and problems in involving practitioners in the development and evaluation of information management programmes. A Health Information module in the BA (Honours) Information and Library Management course (Manchester Metropolitan) was developed in collaboration with health information practitioners. Plans to involve practitioners in the assessment proved difficult to implement. A survey of distance learning students (practitioners and students) on the Health Information Management MSc (Econ) run by OILS, University of Wales Aberystwyth, found that some of the problems students encountered might be solved by more interaction in the form adult learners appreciate most, and that computer conferencing should help. City University London launched a MSc/Diploma course in Pharmaceutical Information Management, based on extensive market research among practitioner groups, and involving practitioners as module leaders, as well as on an Advisory Board. For all three courses the value of practitioner involvement requires good co-ordination.

Hospice. The word alone can incite fear in those who hear it. Why? Often, when people hear the word "hospice," certain images come to mind: a loved one in bed--a loved one dying without food or water--a loved one who is lacking skilled care. With these images also comes the ideology that hospice "kills" patients or "starves" them. Many people have the impression that once their loved one enters an acute hospice care facility, they will only leave by death. Many myths surround hospice. Families often have a preconceived negative notion of hospice, but when they experience the hospice philosophy and the interaction of the Hospice Interdisciplinary Team, those negative connotations are dispelled. In this article, prevalent hospice myths will be explored. The goal is to bring a clearer understanding of hospice care, and in turn, encourage readers to think about how they would want themselves, their families, and their patients to experience care at the end of life.

Oxyntomodulin is a proglucagon-derived gut hormone that reduces food intake and body weight, thus represents a potential therapy for obesity. We synthesized and crystallized oxyntomodulin. The crystal diffracts x-ray to 2.4 A resolution and belongs to space group P2(1)3 with unit-cell parameters a=b=c= 48.44 A, alpha=beta=gamma=90 degrees . Preliminary analysis indicates a trimer packing in one asymmetric unit.

Glucagon and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) are drugs or drug candidates for the treatment of metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. The native hormones have pharmacological deficiencies such as short half-life and poor solubility. A novel glucagon receptor agonist named glucagon-Cex has been designed, synthesized and crystallized. This peptide was highly soluble under physiological conditions and crystallized readily. The crystal diffracted X-rays to 2.2 A resolution and the diffraction was consistent with space group P23, with unit-cell parameters a = b = c = 48.20 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90.0 degrees. The crystals were suitable for a full structural determination to reveal the conformational differences between glucagon-Cex and the native hormone.