The international Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE), sited at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK, aims to build and test one cell of a realistic ionization cooling channel lattice. This ...comprises three Absorber—Focus-Coil (AFC) modules and two RF— Coupling-Coil (RFCC) modules; both are technically challenging. The Focus Coils are dual-coil superconducting solenoids, in close proximity, wound on a common mandrel. Each pair of coils is run in series, but can be configured with the coil polarities the same ("solenoid mode") or opposite ("gradient mode"). At the center of each FC there is a 20-L liquid-hydrogen absorber, operating at about 14 K, to serve as the energy loss medium for the ionization cooling process. The longitudinal beam momentum is restored in the RFCC modules, each of which houses four 201.25-MHz RF cavities whose irises are closed with 42-cm diameter thin beryllium windows. To contain the muon beam, each RFCC module also has a 1.4-m diameter superconducting coupling solenoid surrounding the cavities. Both types of magnet are cooled with multiple two-stage cryo-coolers, each delivering 1.5 W of cooling at 4 K. Designs for all components are complete and fabrication is under way. Descriptions of the various components, design requirements, and construction status will be described.
Summary To explore clinical changes following a novel manual mobilisation technique, 24 participants who experienced ‘moderate’ to ‘severe’ chronic low back pain were recruited from new patients ...attending a suburban osteopathy clinic. The intervention was a previously undescribed side-lying mobilisation technique targeting the lumbosacral spine (median of 6 treatment sessions). After 8 weeks reductions were shown in Oswestry Disability Index of 15 points (95% CI: 9.3, 22.7; p < 0.0001 for overall ANOVA); Quadruple Visual Analogue Scale of 2.0 points (95% CI: 1.0, 3.0; p < 0.0001); and Patient Specific Functional Scale of 3.1 points (95% CI: 1.9, 4.3; p < 0.0001). The results indicate that pain intensity, disability and function improved in most participants following treatment. Further investigation is indicated using more robust research designs to compare this approach with other treatment approaches and usual care for the treatment of chronic low back pain.
•Standardized exams are commonly used to predict likelihood of passing NCLEX-RN®.•This formative evaluation method uses standardized exams to identify areas of concern following curricular ...change.•Formative evaluation findings can be used to support attainment of program learning outcomes.
Systematic program evaluation is important for assessing nursing program quality and achievement of outcomes. Both summative and formative program evaluation have unique value and purpose, but most program evaluation literature to date has focused on summative methods. The purpose of this article is to describe a formative program evaluation method using standardized exam data that was established by an assessment and evaluation committee in a pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suggestions for how to use the results to support student achievement of program learning outcomes and program-level attainment of benchmarks are discussed.
A high luminosity muon collider requires single, intense, muon bunches with small emittances: just one of each sign. An efficient front end and a cooling channel have been designed and simulated ...within the collaboration of the Muon Accelerator Program. The muons are first bunched and phase rotated into 21 bunches, and then cooled in six dimensions. When they are cool enough, they are merged into single bunches: one of each sign. The bunch merging scheme has been outlined with preliminary simulations in previous studies. In this paper we present a comprehensive design with its end-to-end simulation. The 21 bunches are first merged in longitudinal phase space into seven bunches. These are directed into seven “trombone” paths with different lengths, to bring them to the same time, and then merged transversely in a collecting “funnel” into the required single larger bunches. Detailed numerical simulations show that the 6D emittance of the resulting bunch reaches the parameters needed for high acceptance into the downstream cooling channel.
Objectives. Routine measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine use has greatly decreased the incidence of mumps in the U.S. However, a resurgence of mumps occurred in 2006. We investigated the large ...outbreak at a university and assessed risk factors for disease. Methods. We described the outbreak and conducted a case-control study. We interviewed case students (identified from student health service and health department records) and control students (selected from a randomly ordered administrative list) and assessed their vaccination status. We compared case students with ≥2 MMR doses and control students with ≥2 MMR doses in univariate and multivariate analyses. Results. The mean age of the 174 case students was 20.9 years; 65% were women. Ninety-seven case students and 147 control students were enrolled in the study. Two-dose MMR coverage was 99% among case and control students with complete records. Only 33% of case students reported exposure to someone with mumps. Case students were more likely than control students to be aged 18 to 19 years (vs. aged 22 years, adjusted odds ratio AOR = 5.55; 95% confidence interval CI 2.09, 14.74), to report exposure to mumps (AOR=2.31, 95% CI 1.13, 4.73), and to have worked/volunteered on campus (AOR=2.91, 95% CI 1.33, 6.33). Also, women in dormitories had increased odds of mumps compared with men in dormitories. Conclusion. High two-dose MMR coverage was not sufficient to prevent the outbreak. Further study is needed to better understand the effects of dormitory residency and gender on mumps transmission. Clinicians should be vigilant for mumps in young adults presenting with parotitis regardless of immunization history.
The status of the research on muon colliders is discussed and plans are outlined for future theoretical and experimental studies. Besides work on the parameters of a 3–4 and 0.5 TeV center-of-mass ...(COM) energy collider, many studies are now concentrating on a machine near 0.1 TeV (COM) that could be a factory for the s -channel production of Higgs particles. We discuss the research on the various components in such muon colliders, starting from the proton accelerator needed to generate pions from a heavy-Z target and proceeding through the phase rotation and decay (π→μνμ ) channel, muon cooling, acceleration, storage in a collider ring, and the collider detector. We also present theoretical and experimental R&D plans for the next several years that should lead to a better understanding of the design and feasibility issues for all of the components. This report is an update of the progress on the research and development since the feasibility study of muon colliders presented at the Snowmass '96 Workshop R. B. Palmer, A. Sessler, and A. Tollestrup, Proceedings of the 1996 DPF/DPB Summer Study on High-Energy Physics (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA, 1997).
The future nursing workforce is dependent upon qualified nursing faculty to teach nursing students. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the perceived barriers to becoming an ...academic nurse educator by nurses who have graduate degrees. Themes identified include the perception of academic nurse educator role and barriers to becoming an academic nurse educator. Findings have the potential to help stakeholders begin to develop strategies to mitigate the shortage of nursing faculty.
•Masters prepared nurses felt that transitioning to the academic educator role was not financially sustainable.•The perception of having to ‘start over’ as a novice in a new and difficult role prevented Masters prepared nurses from choosing to enter academic educator roles.•The need to earn a Doctoral degree was a deterrent for Masters prepared nurses thinking about becoming academic nurse educators.•Efforts to minimize barriers for Masters prepared nurses to transition to academic nurse educators are essential for mitigating the nurse faculty shortage.
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