Quantitative trait loci mapping reveals candidate pathways regulating cell cycle duration in Plasmodium falciparum.

Background: Elevated parasite biomass in the human red blood cells can lead to increased malaria morbidity. The genes and mechanisms regulating growth and development of Plasmodium falciparum through its erythrocytic cycle are not well understood. We previously showed that strains HB3 and Dd2 diverge in their proliferation rates, and here use quantitative trait loci mapping in 34 progeny from a cross between these parent clones along with integrative bioinformatics to identify genetic loci and candidate genes that control divergences in cell cycle duration.

Impact of the Health Care Financing Administration regulations on restraint and seclusion usage in the acute psychiatric setting.

This quantitative research study hypothesized that the numbers of restraint and seclusion incidents have decreased since the new regulations were imposed by the Health Care Financing Administration. The study sample contained 113 participants who had a documented restraint and/or seclusion episode on the restraint and seclusion logs. The literature shows that a decrease in seclusion and restraint use has been brought about by changes in policies, staff education, and patient education.

Does size matter to the health care professional?

Americans are very cautious of saying that differences matter and frequently advocate that differences, in fact, do not matter. In an effort to be nondiscriminatory, we are not supposed to think, let alone say, that race, sex, religion, and culture matter and, certainly, that size matters. We are supposed to accept differences and to love everything about ourselves.

Understanding ethnopharmacolgy: implications for cultural relativism.

It is commonly accepted that people differ culturally. In the Giger and Davidhizar Transcultural Assessment Model, cultural differences are evident in communication, spatial relationships and needs, social organizations (church, family, kinships, and clubs), time orientation, the ability or desire to control the environment, and biological variations (Giger & Davidhizar, 2008). While many individuals appreciate that there are differences between cultures, what is less well recognized is that people also vary according to biological variations depending on their racial and ethnic group.

Helping at-risk nursing students succeed on the National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse.

As the nursing student population becomes increasingly diverse, more and more students have diverse learning needs and present risk of passing the National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse. Nursing faculty need to be more aware of strategies to assist students prepare and be successful in the National Council Licensure Examination and succeed in the nursing program. This article describes the development of a course to help students take tests and improve study skills.

When your patient cannot hear you.

Communication is vitally important in relationships and a hearing loss can have a profound impact on a person's desire to interact with others. Embarrassment and frustration can cause a person to withdraw and avoid social situations leading to isolation and depression. Persons who recognize they have a hearing problem, seek treatment, and have benefited from available therapies are able to have better relationships with friends and family, feel better about themselves, have improved mental health, and feel greater security and independence.

What the nurse should know about the pulmonary system.

The pulmonary system is vital to life. Illnesses of the pulmonary system may be minor or life threatening. It is very important for the nurse to be constantly aware of assessing a patient's respiratory status and limitations that may be present.

Does having a "brand" help you lead others?

Every manager has the opportunity to develop a personal brand of unique characteristics that are valuable in his or her own right. Recognizing a personal brand and developing it to its fullest can enhance leadership potential. These qualities enable others to notice and follow the leader and can enhance cooperation.

We don't want to go there.

Managers must have many skills, among which is the ability to carefully select which challenges and issues should be responded to and which should be better left alone. A wise manager listens to the troubles of staff and concerns in the workplace and then selects which problems to respond to and when. Sometimes, "We don't want to go there" is the appropriate reaction and limits further conversation and energy on the topic.

Re-entry into the registered nursing work force: we did it!

Because the enrollment in nursing programs dropped in the late 1990s and healthcare agencies and education programs were seeking ways to increase the numbers of nurses, Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana, and Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana, designed a plan to encourage nurses who had been out of nursing to re-enter the work force. This article details the steps used in this partnership and demonstrates a process for helping registered nurses to return to nursing. In the 6-credit, 8-week course, nurses were prepared to function on a medical-surgical unit by reviewing important concepts related to nursing practice, physical assessment, nursing process, nursing skills, pharmacology, and clinical nursing update.

Learning to care for older adults in an associate degree nursing program: a discovery process.

The older adult interview assignment becomes a discovery process in which the students realize that the older adult is a person to be cared about. This experience is then transferred to other older adults as worthy of care. In the author's first experience with this assignment, students selected unknown interview candidates from extended care facilities.

Strategies for developing cultural competency in an RN-BSN program.

It is crucial for nurses to acquire skills and a knowledge base to care for increasingly diverse cultural populations. Many nurses returning to school did not receive theoretical information relative to culture. This article describes some of the teaching strategies utilized in the RN-BSN program at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana.

Are you born a happy person or do you have to make it happen?

An increasing amount of research on happiness reveals that there are many explanations for individuals being happy. Causes for happiness considered in this article include wealth, desire, intelligence, genetics, friendship, marriage, faith, charity, and age. In addition, this article considers how managers can effect their own happiness in the workplace by taking responsibility for happiness in the workplace, providing rewards employees perceive as meaningful, not avoiding employees when times are tough, keeping humor in the workplace, practice joy building, and keeping the environment fun and comfortable.

When your nursing student is culturally diverse.

Nursing faculty are increasingly confronted with nursing students who are culturally diverse. No longer can traditional educational strategies be expected to work with everyone, and strategies must be selected which meet the needs of the students. This article addresses the need to adapt to diversity in the classroom as well as how to personalize strategies to the needs of the students, plan appropriate interventions, and evaluate interventions for effectiveness.

Dealing with the "always sick" employee.

Somatoform disorders occasionally surface in employees and others who, ordinarily unknowingly, are reacting to the stresses in their lives. Somatization is a process by which individuals communicate psychological distress through physical symptoms, thus essentially making themselves ill. However, by learning to recognize the signs of possible somatic problems the manager can apply various strategies to decrease an employee's apparent physical problems and enhance job performance.

Joinng the ranks: nurses as role models.

The average age of today's nurse is 45. The average age of today's nurse educator is 55. Not only is the mean age of nurses increasing, but the United States is also facing a national nursing shortage crisis--with fewer and fewer nurses both in the field and entering the profession.

Providing support to family members.

Providing recognition and simple information can be powerful and reassure a family member who is anxious and worried about an ill relative. While "answers" concerning the procedure are often not available, providing information that is available--the locations of the rest rooms and coffee shop; approximately how long the procedure will take; where to wait; and the process involved in the radiological procedure, reading and getting the results--can give some feeling of control, and thus reduce feelings of powerlessness. Most importantly, family members who are recognized and included with the patient in the treatment process will be reassured of the competency of the staff and gain hopefulness about the outcome of the diagnostic and treatment experience.

A review of the literature on how important water is to the world's elderly population.

Aim: This article reviews the literature on how important water is to the world's elderly population.

Background: Water is a finite resource, so we must preserve the water that we have. Physiological aspects and what water requirements our bodies maintain sum up this essential nutrient for life.

Neural spike classification using parallel selection of all algorithm parameters.

The Forster-Handwerker template-matching algorithm (J. Neurosci. Methods 31 (1990) 109) classifies neuronal spikes according to three parameters selected by the experimenter prior to running the algorithm.

Contributions of metaknowledge to retrieval of natural categories in semantic memory.

Retrieving the answer to a general knowledge question has been shown to involve two metacognitive processes--a feeling-of-knowing that initiates the search of long-term memory and a willingness to continue searching until an answer can be confidently stated. To extend this model, college students were asked to retrieve as many members of 2 natural categories as they could in 1 min. Examination of the points at which they switched categories revealed that they searched longer in categories of higher potency, and they switched earlier when the other category was of higher potency.

A carefully delivered introduction. Enhancing style through a carefully delivered introduction.

Many times nurses are inattentive to the techniques of a proper introduction. A good nurse may know the techniques but fail to take advantage of the benefits that can be derived from an excellent introduction. A nurse should be aware of the benefits of a well-delivered introduction as well as the liabilities that can result from an introduction that is poorly delivered.

Self-promotion: a strategy for career advancement.

Self-promotion is a technique that many managers feel is contradictory to appropriate behavior. However, without self-promotion, many managers can cause their abilities to go unnoticed and to actually be their own worst enemy. This article presents strategies for self-promotion that can advance a manager's career and assist in marketing ideas and abilities to end the manager up in center stage.

When the health care manager is preoccupied with self-doubt.

Self-doubt may plague a manager and lead to lack of productiveness and unhappiness. This manuscript describes the negative effects of self-doubt and strategies that should be used if self-doubt occurs.