Implementation of a Nurse-Initiated Protocol to Improve Enteral Medication Administration Documentation in Stroke Patients.

BACKGROUND: Medication documentation falls under the "7 rights" of medication administration, but strategies to prevent medication administration documentation errors (MADEs) related to route of administration are underreported in the literature. This study aimed to report the outcomes of a nurse-initiated protocol designed to prevent MADEs and align both actual and documented medication administration routes in hospitalized stroke patients with feeding tubes (FTs). METHODS: This was a retrospective descriptive study conducted at a Comprehensive Stroke Center and large academic medical center in the Western United States.

Comparative evaluation of three real-time polymerase chain reaction assays to detect Myxobolus cerebralis.

Objective: We sought to evaluate accurate and reproducible detection of Myxobolus cerebralis (Mc), the causative agent of whirling disease, by using nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) and three previously established real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays: K18S (Kelley 18S), C18S (Cavender 18S), and Hsp70 (heat shock protein 70). We used a "fit for purpose" approach combined with intra- and interlaboratory testing to identify a molecular testing method that would be equivalent to the currently accepted nPCR procedure for Mc.

Methods: Assay performance was compared using a combination of intra- and interlaboratory testing that used synthetic gBlocks along with naturally and experimentally infected fish tissue.

Prevalence and distribution of Renibacterium salmoninarum, causative agent of bacterial kidney disease, in wild trout fisheries in Colorado.

Detections of Renibacterium salmoninarum in Colorado USA fish hatcheries have become more frequent in recent years, including one disease outbreak that originated with a wild broodstock. Our objectives were to document the prevalence and distribution of R. salmoninarum in Colorado's wild trout fisheries, investigate variables that influence that distribution, and evaluate the effectiveness of common testing methods on non-anadromous trout.

Development of a quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay for detection of the aetiological agents of piscine lactococcosis.

Piscine lactococcosis is an emergent bacterial disease that is associated with high economic losses in many farmed and wild aquatic species worldwide. Early and accurate detection of the causative agent of piscine lactococcosis is essential for management of the disease in fish farms. In this study, a TaqMan quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) targeting the 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer region was developed and validated.

Electron Microscopy Imaging of Zinc Soaps Nucleation in Oil Paint.

Using the recently developed techniques of electron tomography, we have explored the first stages of disfiguring formation of zinc soaps in modern oil paintings. The formation of complexes of zinc ions with fatty acids in paint layers is a major threat to the stability and appearance of many late 19th and early 20th century oil paintings. Moreover, the occurrence of zinc soaps in oil paintings leading to defects is disturbingly common, but the chemical reactions and migration mechanisms leading to large zinc soap aggregates or zones remain poorly understood.

Surface-energy engineered Bi-doped SnTe nanoribbons with weak antilocalization effect and linear magnetoresistance.

The rational design of semiconductor nanocrystals with well-defined surfaces is a crucial step towards the realization of next-generation photodetectors, and thermoelectric and spintronic devices. SnTe nanocrystals, as an example, are particularly attractive as a type of topological crystalline insulator, where surface facets determine their surface states. However, most of the available SnTe nanocrystals are dominated by thermodynamically stable {100} facets, and it is challenging to grow uniform nanocrystals with {111} facets.

Planar Vacancies in Sn1-xBixTe Nanoribbons.

Vacancy engineering is a crucial approach to manipulate physical properties of semiconductors. Here, we demonstrate that planar vacancies are formed in Sn1-xBixTe nanoribbons by using Bi dopants via a facile chemical vapor deposition. Through combination of sub-angstrom-resolution imaging and density functional theory calculations, these planar vacancies are found to be associated with Bi segregations, which significantly lower their formation energies.

Design of Low Pt Concentration Electrocatalyst Surfaces with High Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity Promoted by Formation of a Heterogeneous Interface between Pt and CeO(x) Nanowire.

Pt-CeO(x) nanowire (NW)/C electrocatalysts for the improvement of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity on Pt were prepared by a combined process involving precipitation and coimpregnation. A low, 5 wt % Pt-loaded CeO(x) NW/C electrocatalyst, pretreated by an optimized electrochemical conditioning process, exhibited high ORR activity over a commercially available 20 wt % Pt/C electrocatalyst although the ORR activity observed for a 5 wt % Pt-loaded CeO(x) nanoparticle (NP)/C was similar to that of 20 wt % Pt/C. To investigate the role of a CeO(x) NW promotor on the enhancement of ORR activity on Pt, the Pt-CeO(x) NW interface was characterized by using hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HXPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS).

Orientation Dependence of Electromechanical Characteristics of Defect-free InAs Nanowires.

Understanding the electrical properties of defect-free nanowires with different structures and their responses under deformation are essential for design and applications of nanodevices and strain engineering. In this study, defect-free zinc-blende- and wurtzite-structured InAs nanowires were grown using molecular beam epitaxy, and individual nanowires with different structures and orientations were carefully selected and their electrical properties and electromechanical responses were investigated using an electrical probing system inside a transmission electron microscope. Through our careful experimental design and detailed analyses, we uncovered several extraordinary physical phenomena, such as the electromechanical characteristics are dominated by the nanowire orientation, rather than its crystal structure.

Defect structure analysis of heterointerface between Pt and CeOx promoter on Pt electro-catalyst.

Pt-CeOx/C (1.5 ≤ x ≤ 2) electro-catalyst is one of the most promising cathode materials for use in polymer membrane electrolyte fuel cells. To clarify the microstructure of Pt-CeOx heterointerface, we prepared Pt-loaded CeOx thin film on conductive SrTiO3 single crystal substrate by using a stepwise process of pulse laser deposition method for the preparation of epitaxial growth CeOx film followed by an impregnation method which loaded the Pt particles on the CeOx film.

Rational design of Bi2Te3 polycrystalline whiskers for thermoelectric applications.

Bi2Te3 polycrystalline whiskers consisting of interconnected nanoplates have been synthesized through chemical transformation from In2Te3 polycrystalline whisker templates assembled by nanoparticles. The synthesized Bi2Te3 whiskers preserve the original one-dimensional morphology of the In2Te3, while the In2Te3 nanoparticles can be transformed into the Bi2Te3 thin nanoplates, accompanied by the formation of high-density interfaces between nanoplates. The hot-pressed nanostructures consolidated from Bi2Te3 polycrystalline whiskers at 400 °C demonstrate a promising figure of merit (ZT) of 0.

Indium selenides: structural characteristics, synthesis and their thermoelectric performances.

Indium selenides have attracted extensive attention in high-efficiency thermoelectrics for waste heat energy conversion due to their extraordinary and tunable electrical and thermal properties. This Review aims to provide a thorough summary of the structural characteristics (e.g.

Microanalysis of a grain boundary's blocking effect in lanthanum silicate electrolyte for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells.

In order to study the grain boundary's (GB's) blocking effect in lanthanum silicate electrolyte, high density Al-doped apatite-type lanthanum silicate was synthesized and characterized by impedance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Microstructural characterization indicated that the GB's blocking effect was an intrinsic effect. Further microanalysis shows that the GB region is rich in La and poor in Si in comparing with the grain interior (GI).

Microstructural and chemical characterization of ordered structure in yttrium doped ceria.

The ordered structures in different doping levels (x = 0.1, 0.15, 0.

Improvement of cathode performance on Pt-CeO(x) by optimization of electrochemical pretreatment condition for PEFC application.

Pt-CeO(x)/C electrocatalysts for the improvement of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity on cathode were prepared by a combined process of precipitation and co-impregnation methods. The Pt-CeO(x)/C electrocatalysts pretreated by the optimized electrochemical conditioning process showed high ORR activity as compared with homemade Pt/C electrocatalyst. Also, it showed high stability in the cyclic voltammetry (CV) test up to 1000 cycles into 0.

Metal stearate distributions in modern artists' oil paints: surface and cross-sectional investigation of reference paint films using conventional and synchrotron infrared microspectroscopy.

Zinc oxide is a prevalent industrial-age pigment that readily reacts with fatty acids in oil-based paints to form zinc carboxylates. Zinc stearate aggregates are associated with deterioration in late nineteenth and twentieth century paintings. The current study uses both conventional and synchrotron Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) to investigate metal carboxylate composition in a range of naturally aged artists' oil paints and reference paint film draw-downs.

Optimization of ionic conductivity in solid electrolytes through dopant-dependent defect cluster analysis.

Atomistic simulation based on an energy minimization technique has been carried out to investigate defect clusters of R(2)O(3) (R = La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Y, Yb) solid solutions in fluorite CeO(2). Defect clusters composed of up to six oxygen vacancies and twelve accompanied dopant cations have been simulated and compared. The binding energy of defect clusters increases as a function of the cluster size.

Modified live Edwardsiella ictaluri vaccine, AQUAVAC-ESC, lacks multidrug resistance plasmids.

Plasmid-mediated antibiotic resistance was first discovered in Edwardsiella ictaluri in the early 1990s, and in 2007 an E. ictaluri isolate harboring an IncA/C plasmid was recovered from a moribund channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus infected with the bacterium. Due to the identification of multidrug resistance plasmids in aquaculture and their potential clinical importance, we sought to determine whether the modified live E.

In vivo remineralization of acid-etched enamel in non-brushing areas as influenced by fluoridated orthodontic adhesive and toothpaste.

This study aimed to evaluate the in vivo remineralization of acid-etched enamel in non-brushing areas as influenced by fluoridated orthodontic adhesive and toothpaste. One hundred and twenty teeth from 30 volunteers were selected. The teeth were assigned to four treatments: no treatment (negative control); 37% phosphoric acid-etching (PAE) (positive control); PAE + resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC); and, PAE + composite resin.

Structural evolution of GeMn/Ge superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy under different growth conditions.

GeMn/Ge epitaxial 'superlattices' grown by molecular beam epitaxy with different growth conditions have been systematically investigated by transmission electron microscopy. It is revealed that periodic arrays of GeMn nanodots can be formed on Ge and GaAs substrates at low temperature (approximately 70°C) due to the matched lattice constants of Ge (5.656 Å) and GaAs (5.

Ordered structures of defect clusters in gadolinium-doped ceria.

The nano-domain, with short-range ordered structure, has been widely observed in rare-earth-doped ceria. Atomistic simulation has been employed to investigate the ordering structure of the nano-domain, as a result of aggregation and segregation of dopant cations and the associated oxygen vacancies in gadolinium-doped ceria. It is found that the binding energy of defect cluster increases as a function of cluster size, which provides the intrinsic driving force for the defect cluster growth.

Mutual diffusion occurring at the interface between La₀.₆Sr₀.₄Co₀.₈Fe₀.₂O₃ cathode and Gd-doped ceria electrolyte during IT-SOFC cell preparation.

The microstructure and local chemistry of the interface between the screen-printed La(0.6)Sr(0.4)Co(0.

Superstructure formation and variation in Ni-GDC cermet anodes in SOFC.

The microstructures and spatial distributions of constituent elements at the anode in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have been characterized by analytical transmission electron microscopy (TEM). High resolution TEM observations demonstrate two different types of superstructure formation in grain interiors and at grain boundaries. Energy-filtered TEM elemental imaging qualitatively reveals that mixture zones exist at metal-ceramic grain boundaries, which is also quantitatively verified by STEM energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.

Independent emergence of Yersinia ruckeri biotype 2 in the United States and Europe.

Biotype 2 (BT2) variants of the bacterium Yersinia ruckeri are an increasing disease problem in U.S. and European aquaculture and have been characterized as serovar 1 isolates that lack both peritrichous flagella and secreted phospholipase activity.

Microstructural and metal-support interactions of the Pt-CeO2/C catalysts for direct methanol fuel cell application.

To understand the ceria promotion effect of Pt-CeO(2)/C catalysts on methanol oxidation, microstructural and metal-oxide interactions of Pt-CeO(2)/C catalysts with an atomic ratio of Pt/Ce between 0.14 and 1.4 were systematically examined using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS).