3103 research outputs found
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The use of inhaled nitric oxide in congenital diaphragmatic hernia
No full textBackground: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a complex congenital defect of the diaphragm that allows abdominal contents to herniate into the chest cavity, altering pulmonary development, and leading to pulmonary hypoplasia and hypertension. Patient presentation is variable in severity, making management difficult. Many common management strategies have improved the survival rate of infants with CDH, including gentle ventilation and permissive hypercapnia. Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is a potent, pulmonary vasodilator that has shown to improve oxygenation while decreasing pulmonary pressure in infants with pulmonary hypertension. While many institutions utilize iNO in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension, the role of iNO as a treatment for CDH is controversial. Purpose: The purpose of this literature review is to establish a better understanding of CDH including embryology, patient presentation, and management strategies, and to analyze the use and effect of iNO on patients in this population. Methods/Search Strategy: A systemic search of PubMed, CINHAL, and Medline was performed to identify research articles studying the use of iNO on patients with pulmonary hypertension secondary to CDH. Findings/Results: Three studies were utilized in this review to assess the current use and effectiveness of iNO in patients with CDH. Implications for Practice: This review summarized the pathophysiology, embryology, patient presentation, and management strategies, as well as reviewed literature on the effectiveness of iNO on pulmonary hypertension secondary to CDH. Implications for Research: Further research is indicated to determine alternative treatment modalities and establish evidence-based practice protocols to standardize care in infants with CDH
Running-specific prostheses reduce lower-limb muscle activity compared to daily-use prostheses in people with unilateral transtibial amputations
No full textPeople with unilateral transtibial amputation (TTA) have biomechanical differences between the amputated and intact legs and compared to people without TTA during running. Additional biomechanical differences emerge between running with running-specific (RSPs) and daily-use prostheses (DUPs), but the associated underlying muscle activity is unclear. We collected surface electromyography from the biceps femoris long head, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and gastrocnemius as well as body kinematics and ground reaction forces in six people with and six people without TTA. We compared stance phase muscle activity and peak activation timing in people with and without TTA and between people using RSPs compared to DUPs during running at 3.5 m/s. Peak amputated leg hamstring activity occurred 34% (RSP) and 31% (DUP) earlier in stance phase compared to the intact leg. Peak amputated leg rectus femoris activity of people wearing DUPs occurred 8% and 9% later in stance phase than the intact leg of people wearing DUPs and amputated leg of people wearing RSPs, respectively. People with TTA had 45% (DUP) and 61% (RSP) smaller peak amputated leg knee extension moments compared to people without TTA, consistent with observations of quadriceps muscle activity. Using RSPs decreased overall muscle activity compared to DUPs
Social media use while listening to new material negatively affects short-term memory in college students
No full textIncreased access to electronic devices and the ubiquity of social media has resulted in a rapid rise in the prevalence of students “multitasking” while in a classroom setting. While some data indicate the use of electronic devices in class can improve the classroom environment, other studies demonstrate the opposite finding. Moreover, it remains unclear if using social networking sites such as Instagram impacts performance on cognitive tasks when students are presented new material and, if so, what features of Instagram modulate this response. Therefore, in the current study we examined if social media use during or after being presented new information affected short-term memory in college students. Additionally, we assessed if the type or quantity of topics displayed had a modulatory impact on memory. Forty-five college-aged (18–24 years of age) students completed the Logical Memory Immediate Recall (LM I) component of the Wechsler Memory Scale IV, a measure of auditory recognition memory. Subjects were randomly divided into a group that completed the LM I without distraction (controls), a group that completed the LM I while scrolling through their Instagram feed, or a group that completed the LM I after scrolling through their Instagram feed. Subjects that used Instagram while being presented new information demonstrated worse short-term memory recall ability compared to subjects that did not use Instagram during the presentation (71.56% correct answers vs. 80.89%; p = 0.01). Recall ability in the group that used Instagram after hearing the story was not statistically different from the controls. Differences were not observed in the number of topics appearing in subjects’ Instagram feeds and no correlation was found between the number of topics on a subject\u27s Instagram feed and memory recall ability. Collectively, these results suggest that individuals who use their phones to browse Instagram during class or in social settings might have a reduced ability to retain the information given to them when compared to those that are not using their phones scrolling on social media
Ethics-Based Training for Clinicians: Moving Beyond Ethical Decision Making Models
No full textClinical training in ethical decision making processes has relied heavily on teaching students to apply ethical codes and legal statutes to written scenarios using ethical decision making models. While an excellent academic exercise, this approach tends to remain abstract and does not prepare students for the complexities of making decisions during the process of therapy. Recently, experts in the field have called for reforms in ethical training, believing current models must move beyond cognitive exercises that detach students from the humanity of their clients and themselves. The described pedagogical approach bridges the gap by using a modified Objective Structured Clinical Exam to provide a safe context for students to practice ethical decision making and receive feedback before entering actual clinical practice
Intelligent hybrid model for financial crisis prediction using machine learning techniques
No full textFinancial crisis prediction (FCP) plays a vital role in the economic phenomenon. The precise prediction of the number and possibility of failing firms acts as an index of the growth and strength of a nation’s economy. Traditionally, several methods have been presented for effective FCP. On the other hand, the classification performance and prediction accuracy and data legality is not good enough for practical applications. In addition, many of the developed methods perform well for some of the particular dataset but not adaptable to different dataset. Hence, there is a requirement to develop an efficient prediction model for better classification performance and adaptable to diverse dataset. This paper presents a cluster based classification model, comprises of two stages: improved K-means clustering and a fitness-scaling chaotic genetic ant colony algorithm (FSCGACA) based classification model. In the first stage, an improved K-means algorithm is devised to eliminate the wrongly clustered data. Then, a rule-based model is selected to design to fit the given dataset. At the end, FSCGACA is employed for seeking the optimal parameters of the rule-based model. The proposed algorithm is employed to a collection of three benchmark dataset which include qualitative bankruptcy dataset, Weislaw dataset and Polish dataset. A detailed statistical analysis of the dataset is also given. The results analysis ensured that the presented FCP model is superior to other classification model based on the different measures and also found to be more appropriate for diverse dataset
Initial Program Evaluation of an Ignatian Leadership Development Program: The Haddix Dean\u27s Fellows Program
No full textThis chapter shares assessment results from a 4-year undergraduate Ignatian Leadership program. The Dean’s Fellows program consists of several curricular and co-curricular elements, including cohort-based seminars, a common summer read, an annual retreat, social and cultural activities, and a concluding leadership immersion experience. Learning formats throughout the four years included lectures, small and large group discussions, and workshops. For the immersion experience, the Dean’s Fellows participated in preparatory lectures that included information on cultural intelligence, anticipatory reflection, Ignatian Leadership, and discernment, as well as topical information. In order to ensure and improve program outcomes, assessment processes were developed, and data included both quantitative and qualitative measures. Rothausen (2017) provided a theoretical framework that aligns secular leadership development models with Ignatian Leadership. Unfortunately, validated measures of Ignatian Leadership do not exist to date. To address this limitation, we utilized instruments drawn from the field of leadership studies that logically approximate values and practices found within the Ignatian Leadership paradigm. We also conducted a focus group with students completing the 4-year experience and collected pre- and post- program reflection papers. Results from both quantitative and qualitative approaches along with both practical and pedagogical suggestions are offered for those seeking to build a similar program
Discerning Leaders: Forming Jesuit Higher Education Administrators and Faculty in the Ignatian Tradition
No full textAbstract
The need for good leadership is essential for any institution to be successful over the long term. In our current context, many months into a pandemic (Covid-19), the rising awareness, anger, pain and frustration of racial inequalities that are becoming more public and part of the national conversation, and the wide-ranging uncertainty of so many areas that make both short and long-term planning extraordinarily challenging, the need for good leaders is even more important. Leaders in Jesuit higher education face the same societal challenges as any other institution of higher education. Jesuit higher education, however, whose mission is grounded in the charism and spirituality of Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), has within its tradition an incredible resource for sound decision-making and leadership formation.
Ignatian discernment is a process that helps people make important decisions. Overlapping at times with many other well-established decision-making processes, it may appear to be just one more tool for the toolkit. For some who look a bit more closely, they find it also includes some spiritual and/or religious aspects to the process that could seem helpful for the decision at hand. For those who take still a deeper look, Ignatian discernment invites one into a way of living, of being, even in the middle of incredibly turbulent times when important decisions must be made. Ignatian discernment provides a continuous process for leading that happens before, during, and after decisions are made. Because leadership is about making the best decisions for the groups one leads, discernment can be a cornerstone for effective leadership.
This paper seeks to describe some principles of Ignatian discernment. It will also highlight some similarities and differences from other sound decision-making practices and techniques. In the process, it will apply some of these principles to a program called The Ignatian Colleagues Program (ICP), a program offered to faculty and senior-level administrators in the AJCU network.[i] ICP offers these leaders in Jesuit higher education a way to engage more fully the process of becoming discerning leaders in this Ignatian tradition, by exploring more fully their own decision-making process and considering how they might make this Ignatian style of discerning leadership their own.
[i] Ignatian Colleagues Program website: https://www.ignatiancolleagues.org
Towards an Audio-based CNN for Classroom Observation on a Smartwatch
No full textClassroom observation is an important tool to help achieve the United Nations\u27 fourth sustainable goal on quality and inclusive education. However, manually deploying this tool is expensive and not congruent with resource constraints in parts of the world where it is needed the most; Sub Saharan Africa and South and Central Asia. This paper presents the design of an initial implementation of an automated classroom observation system based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) which was optimized using the Hyperband approach. The system implements parts of the Stallings class observation system on a teacher\u27s smartwatch and uses audio data only. Based on \u27data in the wild\u27 collected in Pakistan, the CNN performed close to the level of human experts on unseen data (Cohen\u27s Kappa = 0.687 with human annotated data). F1-measure was 0.78 on unseen data. An Apple 4 smartwatch natively running the CNN was able to provide real-time inference (\u3c 1 second for 3 second audio segments)
Increasing Intent to Vaccinate for Seasonal Influenza
No full textBackground: The community college student is not currently armed with the resources or prevention information regarding influenza. Less than twenty percent of the college population receives influenza immunization annually. Purpose: The purpose of the project was to evaluate if an evidenced-based influenza and vaccine education intervention will affect nursing students’ intent to vaccinate for influenza by increasing knowledge of the influenza vaccine using Zingg and Siegrist’s Knowledge Scale. Methods: Participants were recruited voluntarily from their attendance at orientation for incoming nursing students on a specific date and time. Utilizing a computer survey, all seventy-seven participants completed an online pretest before an educational intervention, and then, the results were compared following the educational intervention with a posttest. Parametric tests such as a paired t-test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and percent change were utilized to determine whether an educational intervention was effective in improving influenza knowledge and whether there was a change in vaccination intention. Outcomes and Results: The educational intervention in this project resulted in enhancement of influenza knowledge. The implications of this project demonstrated the value of providing an educational intervention to improve knowledge, intent, and willingness to vaccinate for influenza for nursing students at a community college