Measuring intravenous cannulation skills of practical nursing students using rubber mannequin intravenous training arms.

This study examined the effectiveness of two training methods for peripheral intravenous (IV) cannulation; one using rubber mannequin IV training arms, and the other consisting of students performing the procedure on each other. Two hundred-sixty Phase II Army Practical Nursing students were randomized into two groups and trained to perform an IV cannulation procedure. All students watched a 12-minute training video covering standard IV placement procedures.

Biological treatment and toxicity of low concentrations of oily wastewater (bilgewater).

The biodegradability and toxicity of low concentrations of oily wastewater (bilgewater) were tested under simulated sanitary wastewater treatment conditions. This was done to establish the feasibility of a combined shipboard oily and nonoily wastewater treatment system. The biodegradability of oily wastewater was determined by proxy; 14C-labeled dodecane, toluene, and phenanthrene (representing alkane, aromatic, and polyaromatic compounds, respectively) were mineralized in petroleum fuels and lubricants.

Simulation in health care provider education at Brooke Army Medical Center.

The teaching and assessment of clinical skills are critical components of health care provider education, and clinical skill proficiency is essential for safe and successful health care delivery. Medical simulation is being increasingly recognized in health care education as an extremely valuable mechanism for training and assessing clinical skills. As in other high-stakes professions, the use of simulation can enhance the proficiency and efficiency of training while maximizing safety and minimizing risk.

Sonication of bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton: Application to treatment of ballast water.

We investigated the effect of high power ultrasound, at a frequency of 19 kHz, on the survival of bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton, in order to obtain estimates of effective exposure times and energy densities that could be applied to design of ultrasonic treatment systems for ballast water. Efficacy of ultrasonic treatment varied with the size of the test organism. Zooplankton required only 3-9s of exposure time and 6-19 J/mL of ultrasonic energy to realize a 90% reduction in survival.

Ralstonia basilensis M91-3, a denitrifying soil bacterium capable of using s-triazines as nitrogen sources.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the phylogenetic and phenotypic traits of M91-3, a soil bacterium capable of mineralizing atrazine (2-chloro-4-N-isopropyl-6-N-ethyl-s-triazine). The isolate was identified as Ralstonia basilensis based on 99.5% homology of the 16S rRNA sequence and various chemotaxonomic data.

Bacterial population changes in a membrane bioreactor for graywater treatment monitored by denaturing gradient gel electrophoretic analysis of 16S rRNA gene fragments.

The bacterial population of a graywater treatment system was monitored over the course of 100 days, along with several wastewater biochemical parameters. The graywater treatment system employed an 1,800-liter membrane bioreactor (MBR) to process the waste, with essentially 100% recycling of the biomass. Graywater feed consisting of 10% galley water and 90% laundry water, selected to approximate the graywater composition on board U.

Human pupil and eyelid response to intense laser light: implications for protection.

Natural ocular protective measures induced by laser glare at 514 nm were evaluated concomitant with the performance of a tracking task. Light-induced eyelid and pupil responses of 5 volunteers, 1 woman and 4 men, ages 23 to 60 years, were recorded as they tracked a target moving at 0.3 degrees/sec.