Nursing diagnoses and construct validity of pain, self-care deficit and impaired mobility

Construct validity of the concepts of pain, self-care deficit and impaired mobility was examined in a study of 120 medical-surgical patients. Factors derived from a factor analysis of the empirical signs and symptoms were: pain-factor and self-care deficit/impaired mobility-factor. The pain-factor clearly showed discriminant validity by differentiating between those with and without Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)-identified diagnosis of pain. An overlap between the defining characteristics of the diagnoses of self-care deficit and impaired mobility has been suggested in the present sample of patients. Limitations of the study and recommendations for further research are described.     

The cue-familiarity heuristic in metacognition

Four experiments contrasted the cue-familiarity hypothesis of feeling-of-knowing judgments (FKJs) and tip-of-the-tongue feelings (TOTs) to the target-retrievability hypothesis. Familiarity of the cues was contrasted to memorability of the targets in a paired-associate design (e.g., A-B A-B, A-B A-B', A-B A-D, A-B C-D), in which the number of repetitions of the cue A terms was dissociated from the memorability of the target B terms. Little support was found for the target-retrievability hypothesis, because in none of the 4 experiments were FKJs related to target memorability. In one experiment, an omnibus retrieval hypothesis (which implicates total retrieval rather than just correct retrieval) and the cue-familiarity hypothesis produced isomorphic predictions that were borne out by the FKJ and TOT results. All 4 experiments supported the cue-familiarity hypothesis, because FKJs and TOTs were directly related to the number of presentations (and thereby the familiarity) of the cues.     

Simple protocols to determine dust potentials from cattle feedlot soil and surface samples

Cattle feedlot dust is an annoyance and may be a route for nutrient transport, odor emission, and pathogen dispersion, but important environmental factors that contribute to dust emissions are poorly characterized. A general protocol was devised to test feedlot samples for their ability to produce dust under a variety of environmental conditions. A blender was modified to produce dust from a variety of dried feedlot surface and soil samples and collect airborne particles on glass fiber filters by vacuum collection. A general blending protocol optimized for sample volume (150-175 cm3), blending time (5 min of pre-blending), and dust collection time (15 s) provided consistent dust measurements for all samples tested. The procedure performed well on samples that varied in organic matter content, but was restricted to samples containing less than 200 to 700 g H2O kg(-1) dry matter (DM). When applied to field samples, the technique demonstrated considerable spatial variability between feedlot pen sites. Mechanistically, dust potential was related to moisture and organic matter content. An alternative protocol also demonstrated differences within pen sites in maximum dust potential and dust airborne residence time. The two protocols were not intended, nor are they suitable, for predicting actual particulate matter emissions from agricultural sources. Rather, the protocols rapidly and inexpensively compared the potential for dust emission from samples of differing composition under a variety of environmental conditions.