Experience informs: spanning three decades with the Neuman systems model.

The efficacy of the Neuman systems model as a guiding framework for curriculum development of a baccalaureate program is examined. Insights from lessons learned provide directions for nursing theory-based curriculum change and program development. Challenges and opportunities during curriculum development are explored.

Factor analysis of H2S emission at a wastewater lift station: a case study.

Odor and corrosion are common problems in domestic wastewater collection, transportation, pumping, and treatment processes. Based on the comparison among odorous compounds and onsite observations at a wastewater lift station, H2S is more likely to have caused the odor and corrosion problems than methanethiol and other organic sulfides. The field data from both air and wastewater quality monitoring demonstrated that more H2S (1 ppmv) was formed at a more negative redox potential, lower pH, and a higher temperature of wastewater.

Patient satisfaction and organizational impact: a hierarchical linear modeling approach.

This article presents the rationale for using multilevel analysis to address the broad environmental contexts in patient satisfaction research. This study utilized patient satisfaction data and the American Hospital Association Hospital Guide Book (2004). This study found significant contributions of individual patient attribute reactions (nursing care, physician care, etc.

Patient satisfaction: how patient health conditions influence their satisfaction.

With increasing emphasis in healthcare on patient satisfaction, many patient satisfaction studies have been administered. Most assume that all patients combine their healthcare experiences (such as nursing care, physician care, etc.) in the same way to arrive at their satisfaction; however, no research has been conducted prior to the present study to investigate how patients' health conditions influence the way they combine their healthcare experiences.

Investigation of the mechanism of protein denaturation by guanidine hydrochloride-induced dissociation of inhibitor-protease complexes.

In this communication we describe an approach in which guanidine hydrochloride-induced dissociation of a protein inhibitor-serine protease complex is used to explore the molecular basis of protein denaturation. The rationale behind this approach is that the inhibitor-protease complex is stabilized by the same types of non-covalent interactions that stabilize the native state of a protein. The dissociation of inhibitor-protease complex can be performed at concentrations of guanidine hydrochloride at which the inhibitor and the protease retain their native conformations.

Custom tray application of peroxide gel as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in the treatment of periodontitis: a randomized, controlled three-month clinical trial.

Objective: Periodontitis is an inflammatory condition of the supporting dental tissues that is normally treated by mechanical removal of the subgingival biofilm. This mechanical treatment, generally known as scaling and root planing (SRP), is not entirely effective, and various adjunctive therapies have been investigated to improve the clinical outcome. This study evaluated the clinical effects of SRP alone or combined with local administration of hydrogen peroxide gel using customized trays in the treatment of subjects with chronic periodontitis.

The evolution of an innovation: variations in medicaid managed care program extensiveness.

This article utilizes a theoretical framework of policy innovation, diffusion, and reinvention to investigate the evolving nature of Medicaid managed care programs over time. By estimating two separate models, one for primary care case management (PCCM) and a second for risk-based program enrollment, this study seeks to disentangle two different paths of learning (internal and external), investigate the potential effects of vertical diffusion of policy, and examine the impact of internal state characteristics on the extent of Medicaid managed care. With respect to diffusion and learning, the data reveal that earlier adopters implement more extensive programs.

The ethics of live patient use in dental hygiene clinical licensure examinations: a national survey.

A national survey of dental hygienists was conducted to explore ethical issues arising from the use of live patients for dental hygiene clinical licensure examinations. Data were collected regarding respondents' demographics, additional costs they incurred associated with their examination beyond the examination fees, delays in patients' treatment resulting from the examination, unethical candidate and/or patient behaviors they experienced, and provisions they made for patients' follow-up care related to the examination. Five hundred surveys were mailed to dental hygienists from two states in each of the five licensure examination regions.

Genetic and molecular characterization reveals a unique nucleobase cation symporter 1 in Arabidopsis.

Locus At5g03555 encodes a nucleobase cation symporter 1 (AtNCS1) in the Arabidopsis genome. Arabidopsis insertion mutants, AtNcs1-1 and AtNcs1-3, were used for in planta toxic nucleobase analog growth studies and radio-labeled nucleobase uptake assays to characterize solute transport specificities. These results correlate with similar growth and uptake studies of AtNCS1 expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Death, drugs, and disaster: mortality among New Orleans' homeless.

Tracking homeless individuals over time has proved to be extremely difficult; thus, only limited longitudinal data on the homeless exist. We analyze longitudinal data originally collected from the New Orleans Homeless Substance Abusers Program in 1991-1993, supplemented with mortality data for the same sample by year 2010. We use social bonding theory to examine the effect of conventional social ties on mortality among a sample of substance abusing homeless people.

The Varicella-zoster virus ORF54 gene product encodes the capsid portal protein, pORF54.

The Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) ORF54 gene was characterized using a guinea pig antiserum prepared to a GST-pORF54 fusion protein. A protein of the predicted size, 87kDa, was detected in VZV-infected MeWo cells but not in mock-infected cells. Sucrose density gradient fractionation of pORF54 expressed in a recombinant baculovirus system resulted in samples containing enriched amounts of pORF54.

Convection in stable and unstable fronts.

Density gradients across a reaction front can lead to convective fluid motion. Stable fronts require a heavier fluid on top of a lighter one to generate convective fluid motion. On the other hand, unstable fronts can be stabilized with an opposing density gradient, where the lighter fluid is on top.

Epistemic humility and medical practice: translating epistemic categories into ethical obligations.

Physicians and other medical practitioners make untold numbers of judgments about patient care on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. These judgments fall along a number of spectrums, from the mundane to the tragic, from the obvious to the challenging. Under the rubric of evidence-based medicine, these judgments will be informed by the robust conclusions of medical research.

Improving patient satisfaction in hospital care settings.

Health-care managers have to address many aspects of the organization, and patient satisfaction is clearly one of the critical aspects for managers. To respond to the need of health-care managers, there have been many patient satisfaction studies. However, these studies focus on which attributes (factors such as nursing care and physician care) are more influential; they do not provide specific aspects for each attribute.

The history of dental hygiene in South Korea.

This historical narrative highlights the origin and development of the dental hygiene profession in South Korea. The legacy of early American missionaries to Korea includes profound and long-lasting contributions in medicine, education and theology. Many of Korea's top universities today have their roots in the missionary schools of the late nineteenth century, including Yonsei University, home of the first dental hygiene program in Korea.

Personality and situational correlates of self-reported reasons for intimate partner violence among women versus men referred for batterers' intervention.

This study examines personality and situational correlates of self-reported reasons for intimate partner violence (IPV) among women and men court-ordered to batterers' intervention as IPV offenders. Women endorsed self-defense and men retaliation as their primary reasons for IPV. Both also endorsed emotion dysregulation as a reason for much of their violence.

Alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and hallucinogen use in Samoan adolescents.

Introduction And Aims: Adolescent substance use has increased with globalisation, and yet few data exist from lower- and middle-income countries and the Pacific Islands.This study examines the prevalence of three aspects of substance use over the past 30 days in Samoan adolescents: (i) use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; (ii) polysubstance use; and (iii) possible substance use problems.

Design And Methods: A survey was administered to secondary school children (n = 879) between 12 and 19 years of age at a single school in Apia, the capital of Samoa, in August 2008.

Escape tactics and effects of perch height and habituation on flight initiation distance in two Jamaican anoles (Squamata: polychrotidae).

Escape by Anolis lizards is influenced by microhabitats and fight initiation distance increases with predation risk. Differences in microhabitat use among ecomorphs affect escape behavior, but only two studies have reported ecomorphological differences in flight initiation distance among Greater Antillean species. I studied effects of predation risk and microhabitats on escape behavior by conducting field experiments using two species of anoles, Anolis lineatopus and A.

Stability of convective patterns in reaction fronts: a comparison of three models.

Autocatalytic reaction fronts generate density gradients that may lead to convection. Fronts propagating in vertical tubes can be flat, axisymmetric, or nonaxisymmetric, depending on the diameter of the tube. In this paper, we study the transitions to convection as well as the stability of different types of fronts.

Cleavage of peptide bonds bearing ionizable amino acids at P(1) by serine proteases with hydrophobic S(1) pocket.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of the synthetic substrate succinyl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Xxx-pNA (where Xxx=Leu, Asp or Lys) catalyzed by bovine chymotrypsin (CHYM) or Streptomyces griseus protease B (SGPB) has been studied at different pH values in the pH range 3-11. The pH optima for substrates having Leu, Asp, and Lys have been found to be 7.5-8.

Oral health maintenance dental implants.

The dental professional's role is to determine the dental implant patient's individual and specific self care needs. Recommendations and instructions to patients are often determined by the prosthesis design, location and angulation of the implants, the length and the position of the transmucosal abutments, and patient habits such as smoking, oral health motivation, and manual dexterity. To ensure optimal peri-implant health, the patient must maintain daily biofilm removal and maintain regular professional care.

The evolution of student nurses' concepts of spirituality.

Spirituality has different meanings to individuals from diverse backgrounds with minimal definitions documented in academe. This qualitative research study was to determine the evolution of student nurses' concepts of spirituality by comparing their definitions on admission and at completion of their nursing education. Student responses are discussed.

Healthcare cost and predictive factors: high- and low-utilization model development.

Healthcare costs in the U.S. are the highest in the world and are increasing rapidly.