The implications of Project 2000 and the formation of links with higher education for the professional and academic needs of nurse teachers in the United Kingdom

A national study was conducted between 1991 and 1994 to explore and describe the changing role of the nurse teacher following the introduction of Project 2000 pre-registration nursing courses. Multiple methods were used to collect data from a wide variety of respondents (nurse teachers, midwife teachers, clinical nurses, health service managers and higher education lecturers). This paper presents the findings relating to the impact of Project 2000 and the move into higher education on the continuing educational needs of nurse teachers. Views on college strategies for staff development, the changing nature of teachers' academic and professional development needs and the problems of the conflicting demands experienced are reported. The research highlights the need for clinical credibility to be clearly defined in relation to nurse teachers and for educational institutions to place more emphasis on teachers' clinical development if the rhetoric of policy is to become a reality.     

The probability density of intersymbol interference fortrellis-coded modulation

Knowledge of the probability density function (pdf) of intersymbol interference (ISI) can be used in the computation of system error probabilities and to help identify the cause of the errors. Exact computation of the probability density is only practicable in a few special cases. Several algorithms exist for computing approximate pdfs of ISI but these only work with certain signal constellations and transmitted symbols that are mutually independent or coded by partial response. This paper considers an algorithm for the computation of ISI pdfs for trellis-coded modulation with general 1D and 2D constellations. The results suggest that symbol dependencies introduced into the transmitted signal by symmetric trellis-codes have negligible effect on the pdf of the ISI. Although the ideas presented are general in nature, examples are given for ISI pdfs on a line-of-sight radio channel     

An automated idea consolidation tool for computer supported cooperative work

The development and application of an idea consolidation tool used in conjunction with idea generation software at the University of Arizona is described. The tool groups comments generated by meeting participants, based upon identical stemmed content keywords in each comment or idea. Results show that the tool groups comments in less than five percent of the time required by the current manual process and has nearly perfect recall and precision compared to the 82.6% recall and 73.1% precision of manual groupings.     

Unraveling the complexity of driving while intoxicated: a study into the prevalence of psychiatric and substance abuse comorbidity

Objective

Research is beginning to provide an indication of the co-occurring substance abuse and mental health needs for the driving under the influence (DUI) population. This study aimed to examine the extent of such psychiatric problems among a large sample size of DUI offenders entering treatment in Texas.

Methods

This is a study of 36,373 past year DUI clients and 308,714 non-past year DUI clients admitted to Texas treatment programs between 2005 and 2008. Data were obtained from the State's administrative dataset.

Results

Analysis indicated that non-past year DUI clients were more likely to present with more severe illicit substance use problems, while past year DUI clients were more likely to have a primary problem with alcohol. Nevertheless, a cannabis use problem was also found to be significantly associated with DUI recidivism in the last year. In regards to mental health status, a major finding was that depression was the most common psychiatric condition reported by DUI clients, including those with more than one DUI offence in the past year. This cohort also reported elevated levels of Bipolar Disorder compared to the general population, and such a diagnosis was also associated with an increased likelihood of not completing treatment. Additionally, female clients were more likely to be diagnosed with mental health problems than males, as well as more likely to be placed on medications at admission and more likely to have problems with methamphetamine, cocaine, and opiates.

Conclusions

DUI offenders are at an increased risk of experiencing comorbid psychiatric disorders, and thus, corresponding treatment programs need to cater for a range of mental health concerns that are likely to affect recidivism rates.     

An epidermal papilloma of the Atlantic samon II: Ultrastructure and etiology

Ultrastructure of the Atlantic salmon papilloma was studied, and virus isolation was attempted. The papilloma cells were similar to normal epidermis in having interdigitating cell membranes with desmosomes. The nuclei, however, were more regular in shape than normal epidermal nuclei and the chromatin tended to be marginated and clumped. No cytopathic viral agents were isolated.     

Microstructure and compressive properties of carbon microballoons

Carbon microballoons (CMBs) with tap densities of 0.143, 0.161, and 0.177 g/cm³, as measured per ASTM B 527-93, were characterized in terms of individual balloon diameter, wall thickness, and mechanical behavior in compression through a novel uniaxial compression test technique. This compression test, performed on an MTS Nanoindenter XP II, utilized a flat-ended cylindrical tip rather than the common Berkovich indenter. Quantitative microscopy techniques were used to obtain diameter and wall thickness measurements on the polished cross-sections of individual CMBs that had been cold mounted in epoxy resin. Though there was significant overlap in the three populations, a trend toward increasing average wall thickness—from 1.32 to 2.16 μm—with increasing tap density was observed. Compressive property data including failure load, failure strain, fracture energy, and stiffness were obtained for individual microballoons. Comparison of these data, both inter- and intra-tap density, has yielded some viable trends. CMB failure strain exhibited a dependence upon the inverse square root of the CMB diameter, and CMB failure load depended linearly upon CMB stiffness. Averages for each tap density’s failure load, pseudo-stiffness, and fracture energy were also calculated and observed to increase with tap density.     

Structure and mechanical properties of micro and macro balloons: An overview of test techniques

A recently developed technique for obtaining uniaxial compression properties of individual microballoons by using a nanoindentation instrument equipped with a flat-ended tip of cylindrical or square cross-section will be described. A variety of useful parameters can be extracted from load vs. displacement curves such as: failure load, strain to failure, fracture energy, and a pseudo-stiffness or spring constant of each microballoon tested. The technique allows for a comparison of compression properties between individual microballoons of varying size or morphology. Other techniques for compression of both individual and large numbers of microballoons simultaneously, will be compared to this new test procedure. Two novel tensile test techniques will be reviewed. Additionally, the utility of complimentary test methods—including quantitative microscopy, SEM, interferometry, and nanoindentation—for characterizing the structure and properties of microballoons will be discussed.     

Titania-coated glass microballoons and cenospheres for environmental applications

Functional titania coatings on glass microballoons (GMBs) and cenospheres have a broad range of potential environmental applications, primarily in purification of drinking water and treatment of industrial wastewater. The heterogeneous photocatalytic capabilities of titania films and particles have been extensively examined in the literature as effective alternatives to current technologies. Although the chemistry of titania films for photocatalysis has been studied, titania-coated GMBs have not yet been extensively considered and the materials science aspects of the titania-GMB and titania-cenosphere systems have not been addressed. We have examined the microstructure, morphology, and mechanical properties of titania coatings on both cenospheres and commercially produced GMBs. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine coating coverage and defects. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used for element and phase identification, respectively. Hardness and modulus measurements of the titania coatings and the GMB and cenosphere materials were done by nanoindentation. Additionally, the photocatalytic activity of the titania-coated GMB system was tested on Procion Red dye using two different types of mixing, a magnetic stirrer and an aeration bubbler apparatus. The titania coatings showed good coverage and retention except in the case of magnetic stirring, where significant coating loss was observed.