Purpose
Among research‐focused nursing doctoral (PhD) programs in the United States, the traditional dissertation format has recently given way to a series of publication‐ready manuscripts, often ...bookended by introduction and conclusion chapters. To help programs make decisions about the use of these formats, this study undertook a national survey of programs offering PhDs in nursing. The purpose of this study was to explore the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional format versus manuscript option for dissertations among nursing PhD programs in the United States.
Design
Cross‐sectional census survey of U.S. nursing PhD programs.
Methods
A web‐based survey was administered to all U.S. nursing PhD programs. Respondents indicated formats offered, factors contributing to decisions of which formats to offer, and lessons learned. Descriptive statistics and inductive content analyses were used for analysis.
Findings
Of 121 eligible institutions, 79 provided eligible responses (66.7%). The majority (59%) offered both formats; 11% offered the manuscript option only, and 24% offered the traditional format only. Faculty support (or lack thereof) contributed to adoption (or not) of the manuscript option. Respondents' approaches to the manuscript option (e.g., number of papers) and advice are summarized.
Conclusions
Manuscript option dissertations are commonly offered and provide benefits to students and faculty; however, thoughtful implementation is critical. Programs need to agree upon clear expectations and have graduate school support (e.g., formatting). Faculty need mentorship in advising manuscript option students who choose to use this format, and the time and support. Finally, students need additional writing skills that could be provided through coursework or via individual work with mentors.
Clinical Relevance
As nursing education continues to expand further into doctoral research, programs must examine dissertation formats in order to both prepare future nurse scholars and disseminate nursing research that is critical to improving nursing education, patient care, and clinical practice.
Elderly women who live alone are considered at greater risk for loneliness, depression, and decreased mobility. This paper examines the influences of late-life friendships and senior center ...activities on the health and well-being of aging women living alone. Based on the findings from 274 women living alone it was found that the senior center is an excellent environment where new supportive friendships can easily be formed. These friendships and other center activities have positive mental and physical outcomes. Using a comparison group of 171 elderly women living with their spouses, it was discovered that women who lived alone participated in center activities more frequently and, as a result, also created a social network that extended outside of the center environment.
This study examined the natural and experimental host range and aphid and graft transmission of the tentative polerovirus phasey bean mild yellows virus (PBMYV). Eleven complete coding sequences from ...PBMYV isolates were determined from a range of hosts and locations. We found two genetically distinct variants of PBMYV. PBMYV-1 was the originally described variant, and PBMYV-2 had a large putative recombination in open reading frame 5 such that PBMYV-1 and PBMYV-2 shared only 65-66% amino acid sequence identity in the P5 protein. The virus was transmitted by a clonal colony of cowpea aphids (
Aphis craccivora
) and by grafting with infected scions but was not transmitted by a clonal colony of green peach aphids (
Myzus persicae
). PBMYV was found in natural infections in 11 host species with a range of symptoms and severity, including seven important grain legume crops from across a wide geographic area in Australia. PBMYV was common and widespread in the tropical weed phasey bean (
Macroptilium lathyroides
), but it is likely that there are other major alternative hosts for the virus in temperate regions of Australia. The experimental host range of PBMYV included the Fabaceae hosts chickpea (
Cicer arietinum
), faba bean (
Vicia faba
), pea (
Pisum sativum
), and phasey bean, but transmissions failed to infect several other members of the families Asteraceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae and Solanaceae. PBMYV was commonly found in grain legume crops in eastern and western Australia, sometimes at greater than 90% incidence. This new knowledge about PBMYV warrants further assessments of its economic impact on important grain legume crops.
Sudden Stops and Output Drops Chari, V. V.; Kehoe, Patrick J.; McGrattan, Ellen R.
The American economic review,
05/2005, Letnik:
95, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Epigenetic dysregulation has been associated with cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. The present study investigated associations between common SNPs in genes regulating DNA methylation and ...age-related changes in cognitive decline in two independent prospective cohorts of patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment. An association between the rs1187120 SNP in DNMT3A and annual decline in cognitive functioning was discovered and replicated, suggesting that DNMT3A moderates cognitive decline in subjects with mild cognitive impairment.
Streptococcus uberis, a Gram positive bacterial pathogen responsible for a significant proportion of bovine mastitis in commercial dairy herds, colonises multiple body sites of the cow including the ...gut, genital tract and mammary gland. Comparative analysis of the complete genome sequence of S. uberis strain 0140J was undertaken to help elucidate the biology of this effective bovine pathogen.
The genome revealed 1,825 predicted coding sequences (CDSs) of which 62 were identified as pseudogenes or gene fragments. Comparisons with related pyogenic streptococci identified a conserved core (40%) of orthologous CDSs. Intriguingly, S. uberis 0140J displayed a lower number of mobile genetic elements when compared with other pyogenic streptococci, however bacteriophage-derived islands and a putative genomic island were identified. Comparative genomics analysis revealed most similarity to the genomes of Streptococcus agalactiae and Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus. In contrast, streptococcal orthologs were not identified for 11% of the CDSs, indicating either unique retention of ancestral sequence, or acquisition of sequence from alternative sources. Functions including transport, catabolism, regulation and CDSs encoding cell envelope proteins were over-represented in this unique gene set; a limited array of putative virulence CDSs were identified.
S. uberis utilises nutritional flexibility derived from a diversity of metabolic options to successfully occupy a discrete ecological niche. The features observed in S. uberis are strongly suggestive of an opportunistic pathogen adapted to challenging and changing environmental parameters.
Background
A lack of consensus exists amongst national guidelines regarding who should be investigated for haematuria. Type of haematuria and age‐specific thresholds are frequently used to guide ...referral for the investigation of haematuria.
Objectives
To develop and externally validate the haematuria cancer risk score (HCRS) to improve patient selection for the investigation of haematuria.
Methods
Development cohort comprise of 3539 prospectively recruited patients recruited at 40 UK hospitals (DETECT 1; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02676180) and validation cohort comprise of 656 Swiss patients. All patients were aged >18 years and referred to hospital for the evaluation of visible and nonvisible haematuria. Sensitivity and specificity of the HCRS in the validation cohort were derived from a cut‐off identified from the discovery cohort.
Results
Patient age, gender, type of haematuria and smoking history were used to develop the HCRS. HCRS validation achieves good discrimination (AUC 0.835; 95% CI: 0.789–0.880) and calibration (calibration slope = 1.215) with no significant overfitting (P = 0.151). The HCRS detected 11.4% (n = 8) more cancers which would be missed by UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines. The American Urological Association guidelines would identify all cancers with a specificity of 12.6% compared to 30.5% achieved by the HCRS. All patients with upper tract cancers would have been identified.
Conclusion
The HCRS offers good discriminatory accuracy which is superior to existing guidelines. The simplicity of the model would facilitate adoption and improve patient and physician decision‐making.
Reproductive cancers, encompassing various malignancies like endometrial, ovarian, cervical cancer, and gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, pose a significant global health burden. Understanding ...their patterns is vital for effective prevention and management. Contraceptives show a protective effect against some of these cancers. This clinical guidance document aims to elucidate the disease burden of reproductive cancers and the evidence supporting contraceptive methods in prevention and management. Regional disparities in incidence and mortality highlight the urgent need for targeted interventions, particularly in low‐resource settings. Healthcare providers must weigh individual risk profiles and medical eligibility criteria when discussing contraceptive options. Enhanced health literacy through direct patient education is essential for leveraging low‐cost behavioral interventions to mitigate reproductive cancer risks.
Synopsis
Protective effects of contraception against reproductive cancers are one of the essential non‐contraceptive benefits to be considered while counseling patients.
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