A Framework of Academic Persistence and Success for Ethnically Diverse Graduate Nursing Students

The goal of this qualitative study was to examine how ethnically diverse graduate nursing students persisted with academic studies. Ethnically diverse nurses are vastly underrepresented in the workforce. This problem is accentuated by high attrition rates in academic programs. A grounded theory approach was used. Five focus groups were conducted with 16 ethnically diverse graduate students in nursing and interviews were conducted with two diversity advisers. Analysis of the data indicated that the process of learning to balance stressors with moderators was key to academic persistence and retention. A conceptual framework emerged from the data that provides a guide for academic institutions seeking to implement strategies to promote retention and graduation of diverse graduate nursing students. Recommendations are offered to address faculty development, administrative action, and student resources. Aim. The goal of this qualitative study was to examine how ethnically diverse graduate nursing students persisted with academic studies. Background. Ethnically diverse nurses are vastly underrepresented in the workforce. This problem is accentuated by high attrition rates in academic programs. Method. A grounded theory approach was used. Five focus groups were conducted with 16 ethnically diverse graduate students in nursing and interviews were conducted with two diversity advisers. Results. Analysis of the data indicated that the process of learning to balance stressors with moderators was key to academic persistence and retention. A conceptual framework emerged from the data that provides a guide for academic institutions seeking to implement strategies to promote retention and graduation of diverse graduate nursing students. Conclusion. Recommendations are offered to address faculty development, administrative action, and student resources

Particle distributions in approximately 10(14) 10(16) eV air shower cores at sea level

Experimental evidence is reported for fixed distances (0, 1.0, 2.5 and 4.0 m) from the shower centers and for core flattening. The cores become flatter, on average, as the shower size (primary energy) increases. With improved statistics on 4192 cores, the previous results are exactly confirmed

Virtual image out-the-window display system study. Volume 2 - Appendix

Virtual image out-the-window display system imaging techniques and simulation devices - appendices containing background materia

The preservation of quartz grain surface textures following vehicle fire and their use in forensic enquiry

During a terrorist trial, dispute arose as to whether the temperature produced in a car fire was sufficient to destroy quartz grain surface textures. A series of seven sequential experiments showed that the temperature for quartz surface texture modification/destruction and the production of vugs, vesicles and glassy precipitation ('snowdrifting') occurred at 1200 degrees C under normal atmospheric conditions. By adding a number of man-made and natural substances, it was found that only the presence of salts depressed this modification temperature (to 900 degrees C). Experiments to determine the temperature of fire in a car indicated that the maximum temperature produced under natural conditions (810 degrees C) was insufficient to affect the quartz grain Surface textures. These results confirm the use of surface texture analysis of quartz grains recovered from the remains of cars Subjected to fire and their use as a forensic indicator. (C) 2008 Forensic Science Society. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Can Civic and Moral Education Be Distinguished?

Para pengajar pendidikan kewarganegaraan selalu mengalami dilemma antara pengajaran nilai-nilai kewarganegaraan dengan pendidikan moral. Jika terfokus kepada yang pertama, pengajaran hanya akan berupa observasi antropologis terhadap fakta-fakta empiris pada suatu bangsa. Sementara jika menekankan kepada pendidikan moral per se, meskipun normatif tetapi sarat dengan premis-premis metafisik yang kontroversial yang mungkin tidak semua siswa dapat menerimanya. Untuk memecahkannya banyak teori politik dan pendidikan telah dirumuskan diantaranya civic religion dari Gutmann, teori komunitarian Rober N. Bellah dan mungkin yang paling relevan adalah paham libertarian yang bicara soal keadilan dari John Rawls dan lain-lain. Semuanya akan diintegrasikan dalam kurikulum yang bertujuan untuk memberi kemampuan siswa untuk memahami konsensus, bagaimama memahami masyarakat dan memahami hubungan antara merefleksikan hubyungan tersebut serta membangun moral pribadi mereka. Rawls percaya bahwa pendidikan harus mengajak kepada keterlibatan dalam dialog publik mengenai nilai-nilai kewarganegaraan demi merumuskan sebuah moralitas pribadi

Functional electrical stimulation of gluteus medius reduces the medial joint reaction force of the knee during level walking

Background: By altering muscular activation patterns, internal forces acting on the human body during dynamic activity may be manipulated. The magnitude of one of these forces, the medial knee joint reaction force (JRF), is associated with disease progression in patients with early osteoarthritis (OA), suggesting utility in its targeted reduction. Increased activation of gluteus medius has been suggested as a means to achieve this. Methods: Motion capture equipment and forceplate transducers were used to obtain kinematic and kinetic data for 15 healthy subjects during level walking, with and without the application of functional electrical stimulation (FES) to gluteus medius. Musculoskeletal modelling was employed to determine the medial knee JRF during stance phase for each trial. A further computer simulation of increased gluteus medius activation was performed using data from normal walking trials by a manipulation of modelling parameters. Relationships between changes in the medial knee JRF, kinematics and ground reaction force were evaluated. Results: In simulations of increased gluteus medius activity, the total impulse of the medial knee JRF was reduced by 4.2% (p=0.003) compared to control. With real-world application of FES to the muscle, the magnitude of this reduction increased to 12.5% (p<0.001), with significant inter-subject variation. Across subjects, the magnitude of reduction correlated strongly with kinematic (p<0.001) and kinetic (p<0.001) correlates of gluteus medius activity. Conclusions: The results support a major role for gluteus medius in the protection of the knee for patients with OA, establishing the muscle’s central importance to effective therapeutic regimes. FES may be used to achieve increased activation in order to mitigate distal internal loads, and much of the benefit of this increase can be attributed to resulting changes in kinematic parameters and the ground reaction force. The utility of interventions targeting gluteus medius can be assessed in a relatively straightforward way by determination of the magnitude of reduction in pelvic drop, an easily accessed marker of aberrant loading at the knee